The Morning Mile — Wednesday, Nov. 11

Good morning. Wednesday's Morning Mile leads with the monthly rate benchmark: DAT's October figures put the average van spot rate at $3.05 a mile — the highest since February 2022 — with contract records for reefer and flatbed and a volume index that says scarcity, not demand, is doing the work. Weather turns wintry on three fronts at once: the Weather Prediction Center has lake-effect snow building over Michigan's Upper Peninsula from Wednesday night, upslope snow for the high terrain of West Virginia and the Appalachians Thursday into Saturday, and a wet, heavy Sierra Nevada storm arriving Friday afternoon. And on pay, National Transportation Institute data shows fleets changed driver pay in the third quarter at the fastest pace since early 2022 — concentrated in the over-the-road and specialized jobs where experienced drivers have the most leverage. No new EIA diesel print lands this week; the next one is due Nov. 17.

Top story: DAT's October benchmark is the strongest monthly rate report since 2022: van spot at $3.05 a mile, reefer at $3.60 and flatbed at $3.61, all about 45% above a year ago, with van contract matching its May 2022 record and reefer and flatbed contract rates setting new ones. Read the full story for the linehaul-versus-fuel split, because at about $6.25 diesel, a growing share of the headline rate is pass-through.

Weather: Plan around three snow events between Wednesday night and Saturday — the Upper Peninsula lake effect, a narrow possible band into northwestern Indiana late Thursday, Appalachian upslope snow above 3,000 feet, and the Sierra above 6,500 feet. The full story lays out the probabilities and the timing for each.

Pay: Pay changes hit a four-year high in the third quarter, and starting solo rates in public announcements have reached the $0.70-a-mile range — but the raises are targeted, not general. The story explains how to price an offer on total earnings instead of the headline rate.

Stay safe out there.