Dry van spot linehaul rates paid to carriers averaged $2.26 per mile last week, minus fuel, up 2.4%, or $0.05 per mile, from the week before. Rates climbed 35.1%, or $0.59 per mile, year over year and held 23.0%, or $0.42 per mile, above the nine-year seasonal average of $1.84 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 $3.03 per mile, up 3 cents week over week and 86 cents, or 39.7%, year over year. The ten states held 35.7% of national dry van outbound volume.
Regional rate trends
| Dry Van — Top 10 Origins by Share of Outbound Loads · Week Ending October 10, 2026 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | Origin Region | Avg RPM | WoW | YoY |
| 1 | Great Lakes | $2.61 | +2¢ | +68¢ |
| 2 | South Central | $1.93 | +2¢ | +36¢ |
| 3 | Southeast | $2.12 | +1¢ | +50¢ |
| 4 | Upper Atlantic | $2.31 | +4¢ | +58¢ |
| 5 | California | $2.52 | +7¢ | +62¢ |
| 6 | Ohio River | $2.61 | +7¢ | +71¢ |
| 7 | Carolinas | $2.12 | +1¢ | +49¢ |
| 8 | Lower Midwest | $2.20 | −1¢ | +43¢ |
| 9 | Florida-South Georgia | $1.41 | −1¢ | +25¢ |
| 10 | Lower Atlantic | $2.23 | 0¢ | +57¢ |
The top 10 dry van origin regions accounted for 87.8% of outbound loads last week. California and Ohio River held up best week over week, each up 7 cents.
Market conditions
Load posts fell 20.4% while posted trucks rose 4.0%, and the dry van load-to-truck ratio eased to 10.50 from 13.72 the week before last. That is a step back from the quarter-end reading, though the ratio remains well above the 6.29 of a year ago, when posted trucks ran more than a third higher.
Short-term outlook
The DAT Rate Forecast projects dry van spot linehaul to ease to $2.23 per mile 35 days out, from $2.26 last week, inside a 70% confidence band of $2.16 to $2.30. The projected level holds well above where the market sat a year ago.
