Dry van spot linehaul rates paid to carriers averaged $2.25 per mile last week, minus fuel, down 1.3%, or $0.03 per mile, from the prior week. Rates climbed 38.4%, or $0.62 per mile, year over year and held 25.8%, or $0.46 per mile, above the nine-year seasonal average of $1.78 per mile, near the top 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 10 dry van bellwether states posted a moves-weighted outbound rate of $2.97 per mile this week, down 1.1%, or $0.03 per mile, week over week and up 44.0%, or $0.91 per mile, year over year. The roster carried 35.5% of all U.S. state-outbound dry van loads, in line with its recent baseline near 35%.
Regional rate trends
| Dry Van — Top 10 Origins by Rate Per Mile · Week Ending August 14, 2026 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | Origin Region | Avg RPM | WoW % | YoY % |
| 1 | Ohio River | $2.53 | -0.9% | +40.3% |
| 2 | California | $2.51 | -3.6% | +34.6% |
| 3 | Great Lakes | $2.46 | +0.3% | +36.1% |
| 4 | Lower Midwest | $2.32 | -1.5% | +34.9% |
| 5 | Southeast | $2.32 | -4.8% | +42.5% |
| 6 | Carolinas | $2.29 | -3.6% | +41.0% |
| 7 | Lower Atlantic | $2.22 | -1.7% | +38.2% |
| 8 | Upper Atlantic | $2.14 | +0.5% | +30.7% |
| 9 | South Central | $2.13 | -6.9% | +31.3% |
| 10 | Florida-So Georgia | $1.59 | -4.6% | +37.5% |
The top 10 origins carried 87.6% of all U.S. outbound loads moved in the week. Great Lakes led week over week at +0.3%, while most leading origins eased from the prior week as summer volumes softened.
Market conditions
Load posts were down 1.5% week over week and up 27.2% year over year, while truck posts were down 0.8% week over week and down 26.4% year over year. With freight easing faster than capacity, the load-to-truck ratio eased to 9.98, down from 10.05 a week earlier but still well above 5.77 a year ago.
Short-term outlook
The 35-day DAT Rate Forecast puts dry van spot linehaul at $2.24 per mile in mid-September, within an uncertainty band of about plus or minus $0.08 per mile (3.5% of the forecast point). Across equipment, the dry van band ranks widest. That end-of-forecast rate stands about $0.60 per mile above the actual rate near the same date a year earlier ($1.64 per mile).
