Dry van spot linehaul rates paid to carriers averaged $2.24 per mile last week, minus fuel, down 0.7%, or $0.02 per mile, from the week before. Rates climbed 32.8%, or $0.55 per mile, year over year and held 23.5%, or $0.42 per mile, above the nine-year seasonal average of $1.82 per mile, in the upper half of the historical range.
All rates cited are linehaul only. They exclude fuel costs and surcharges unless otherwise noted.
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Bellwether states
The dry van bellwether states averaged $2.95 per mile last week, down $0.04 per mile from the week before and up $0.79 per mile, or 36.7%, year over year. The ten states held 35.4% of national dry van outbound volume.
Regional rate trends
| Dry Van — Top 10 Origins by Rate Per Mile · Week Ending October 24, 2026 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | Origin Region | Avg RPM | WoW | YoY |
| 1 | California | $2.58 | +$0.02 | +$0.70 |
| 2 | Great Lakes | $2.55 | −$0.04 | +$0.60 |
| 3 | Ohio River | $2.55 | −$0.02 | +$0.62 |
| 4 | Upper Atlantic | $2.26 | −$0.04 | +$0.54 |
| 5 | Lower Atlantic | $2.23 | +$0.02 | +$0.56 |
| 6 | Lower Midwest | $2.19 | −$0.02 | +$0.40 |
| 7 | Southeast | $2.04 | −$0.06 | +$0.41 |
| 8 | Carolinas | $2.01 | −$0.04 | +$0.38 |
| 9 | South Central | $1.87 | −$0.04 | +$0.30 |
| 10 | Florida-So Georgia | $1.38 | −$0.02 | +$0.23 |
The top 10 origin regions accounted for 87.4% of dry van outbound loads last week. California held up best week over week, along with Lower Atlantic, the only two origins to gain. Each rose $0.02 per mile, and California reached $2.58 per mile, the highest rate in the group. Southeast gave back the most, down $0.06 per mile.
Market conditions
Load posts fell 2.1% last week while truck posts slipped 0.2%, and the dry van load-to-truck ratio eased to 9.51 from 9.70 the week before last. The ratio still sits well above the 6.03 of a year ago, when posted trucks ran 35% higher. Load posts are 16.9% above a year ago, but truck posts remain 25.9% below, so capacity, not demand, is holding rates up.
Short-term outlook
The DAT Rate Forecast projects dry van spot linehaul to hold near $2.24 per mile 35 days out, level with last week. The Forecast Low is $2.17 per mile and the Forecast High is $2.31 per mile, a spread of $0.14 per mile, the middle spread of the three equipment types.
