DAT: load posts dip 3% to 2.6 million while linehaul rates hold — van $2.26, reefer $2.76, flatbed $2.65

Spot load posts cooled last week while the linehaul underneath them held steady, with cheaper diesel — not weaker pricing — doing nearly all of the work in lower all-in rates, according to The Trucker on Oct. 19, reporting DAT Freight & Analytics data.

DAT One load posts totaled 2.6 million for the week of Oct. 10–16, down 3% from the prior week, and total equipment posts slipped 1% to 184,126. National average broker-to-carrier spot rates, including fuel, fell for all three equipment types: van at $3.09 per mile, down $0.03; reefer at $3.66 per mile, down $0.02; and flatbed at $3.64 per mile, down $0.04. Linehaul rates excluding the average fuel surcharge barely moved — van at $2.26 per mile and flatbed at $2.65 per mile, both essentially flat, and reefer at $2.76 per mile, up $0.01.

"Capacity remains the key factor in pricing," said Dean Croke, DAT industry analyst. Croke said lower diesel shaved $0.03 to $0.04 a mile off the average fuel surcharge, while truck posts on DAT One remain 21% to 27% below a year ago and load posts run 12% to 23% above it. Linehaul rates sit about a third above last year — van up 35%, reefer up 33% and flatbed up 29%. DAT's 35-day forecast has van linehaul easing to $2.23 per mile by late November, reefer edging up to $2.78 and flatbed slipping to $2.59.

By equipment: dry van loads fell 6% to 1,209,633 with trucks down 1% to 124,659, for a load-to-truck ratio of 9.7, down from 10.3. Reefer loads fell 3% to 562,780 with trucks essentially flat at 35,690, for a ratio of 15.8, down from 16.2 — though Midwest reefer rates climbed, with the Upper Midwest up $0.13 to $3.65 per mile and the Lower Midwest up $0.10 to $3.33, and reefer linehaul is $0.68 per mile higher than a year ago, the largest year-over-year gain of the three types. Flatbed was the outlier: loads rose 1% to 868,556, trucks fell 2% to 23,777, and its ratio rose to 36.5 from 35.7 — the only ratio to increase — with flatbed linehaul pricing 26% above its nine-year seasonal average and above the top of its nine-year range for this point in the calendar.