DAT: September spot and contract rates rose as diesel passed $6 a gallon for the first time

Truckload rates rose in September as the monthly national average on-highway diesel price surpassed $6 a gallon for the first time, according to DAT Freight & Analytics on Oct. 13.

National average spot rates paid by brokers to carriers rose for all three equipment types. Dry van averaged $3.01 a mile, up $0.12 from August and up $0.96 from September 2025. Reefer averaged $3.62 a mile, up $0.24 from August — a monthly record that topped the previous high of $3.60 set in January 2022. Flatbed averaged $3.61 a mile, up $0.07 from August.

Excluding fuel, the picture was softer. Spot linehaul rates rose $0.09 for reefer to $2.70 a mile, but fell $0.02 for van to $2.17 and $0.10 for flatbed to $2.60. Contract rates including fuel also rose across the board: van to $3.24 a mile, reefer to $3.58, and flatbed to $4.04, with the reefer and flatbed contract averages setting records.

DAT's estimated fuel surcharge reached a record for all three equipment types in September: $0.84 a mile for dry van, $0.92 for reefer, and $1.01 for flatbed, passing the previous highs set in June 2022. DAT put September's average diesel price at $6.291 a gallon and calculated that a truck running 500 miles a day at 6 miles per gallon burned about $524 of fuel a day, compared with $310 in February — an extra $214 a day.

Volumes stayed below year-earlier levels. The DAT Truckload Volume Index fell 1% from August for dry van, to 252, and 5% for reefer, to 178, while flatbed rose 2% to 298. Dean Croke, DAT's principal industry analyst, noted that on the spot market carriers have to front fuel costs while rates typically take three to four weeks to catch up with rising diesel prices.