Contract rates open a $0.22-a-mile gap over spot freight, U.S. Bank finds

Contract dry van rates ended August $0.22 a mile above spot freight, according to FreightWaves on Oct. 3 — a reversal from June, when spot briefly priced higher than contract.

The figures come from the October edition of the U.S. Bank Freight Payment Index – Rates Edition, produced with DAT Freight & Analytics and covering June through August. Spot linehaul fell to $2.17 a mile in August from $2.35 in July and $2.38 in June, while contract linehaul rose from $2.30 in June to $2.39 in August — gaining every month since April. Both remain well above last year: August spot was up 35.6% from $1.60 a mile in August 2025, and contract was up 20.1% from $1.99.

Fuel is doing more of the heavy lifting. Fuel surcharges rose to $0.70 a mile in August from $0.62 in July, a 13% increase, and fuel made up about 24% of the broker-to-shipper spot rate in August versus 21% in June. Spot loads in the index fell 3.2% in August to 1,264,897, and contract loads fell 1.3% to 740,249. The report ties the widening gap to capacity: trucks keep leaving the market faster than freight demand is declining, and rising diesel costs are pushing thinner-margin carriers out.