Dry van spot linehaul rates paid to carriers averaged $2.26 per mile last week, minus fuel, down 0.1%, or less than a cent per mile, from the week before. Rates ran 34.5%, or $0.58 per mile, year over year and held 23.8%, or $0.43 per mile, above the nine-year seasonal average of $1.83 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 $2.99 per mile last week, down 3 cents from the week before and up 84 cents, or 38.9%, year over year. The ten states held 35.9% of national dry van outbound volume.
Regional rate trends
| Dry Van — Top 10 Origins by Share of Outbound Loads · Week Ending October 17, 2026 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | Origin Region | Avg RPM | WoW | YoY |
| 1 | Great Lakes | $2.59 | −3¢ | +67¢ |
| 2 | South Central | $1.92 | −1¢ | +33¢ |
| 3 | Southeast | $2.10 | −2¢ | +48¢ |
| 4 | Upper Atlantic | $2.29 | −2¢ | +59¢ |
| 5 | California | $2.56 | +4¢ | +68¢ |
| 6 | Ohio River | $2.57 | −4¢ | +65¢ |
| 7 | Carolinas | $2.06 | −6¢ | +43¢ |
| 8 | Lower Midwest | $2.20 | 0¢ | +43¢ |
| 9 | Florida-South Georgia | $1.40 | −2¢ | +26¢ |
| 10 | Lower Atlantic | $2.21 | −2¢ | +54¢ |
The top 10 dry van origin regions accounted for 87.6% of outbound loads last week. California held up best week over week, the only region to gain, up 4 cents to $2.56 per mile. Lower Midwest was flat, and Carolinas gave back the most, down 6 cents.
Market conditions
Load posts fell 6.0% while posted trucks slipped 0.5%, and the dry van load-to-truck ratio eased to 9.70 from 10.27 the week before last. Load posts remain 23.4% above a year ago. The ratio still sits well above the 5.75 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, against $2.26 last week, inside a 70% confidence band from $2.16 to $2.30. A year ago the market sat near $1.67, so the projected level holds well above it.
