Truckload spot rates moved higher in May even as freight volumes fell, according to DAT Freight & Analytics.
Several factors disrupted the supply of available trucks, including the Commercial Vehicle Safety Association’s International Roadcheck inspection blitz, Memorial Day weekend, and ongoing immigration enforcement that continues to shrink the available driver pool.
“Carriers have also been shifting capacity toward contract freight to take advantage of fuel surcharge programs, which offer more predictable cost recovery than spot transactions. That shift is reducing truck supply on the open market, making the spot market more sensitive to disruptions like roadcheck and holiday slowdowns,” according to DAT.
Key takeaways:
· The DAT Truckload Volume Index (TVI) fell across all three equipment types compared to April: Van TVI: 233, down 9% compared to April; refrigerated TVI: 172, down 10%; and flatbed TVI: 267, down 14%.
· Spot rates increased across all three equipment types in May despite lower freight volumes, reflecting tighter capacity rather than rising demand.
· Enforcement-driven attrition continues to remove drivers from circulation, and truck-post data from the DAT One marketplace during the week of May 10 reflected carriers pulling equipment to avoid roadcheck-related delays.
- Spot van rate: $2.89 per mile, up 22 cents from April; spot reefer rate: $3.35 per mile, up 24 cents; and spot flatbed rate: $3.65 per mile, up 19 cents.
- Fuel surcharges remained elevated — van at 73 cents per mile, reefer at 79 cents, flatbed at 87 cents — but linehaul rates drove last month’s pricing increases. The average van linehaul rate was up 20 cents to $2.16 per mile, reefer jumped 22 cents to $2.56, and flatbed was up 17 cents to $2.78.
- Reefer spot rates crossed above contract rates in May — $3.35 vs. $3.28 per mile — reflecting both the move of capacity toward contract and seasonal pressure on temperature-controlled equipment.
- Spot rates were higher across all modes compared to May 2025. The average spot van rate was 90 cents per mile higher, the reefer rate was up 99 cents, and the flatbed rate increased by $1.07 year over year.
- Contract rates moved modestly higher in May across all three equipment types: Contract van rate: $2.92 per mile, up 7 cents month over month; contract reefer rate: $3.28 per mile, up 6 cents; and contract flatbed rate: $3.77 per mile, up 6 cents.
- Year over year, contract rates were up 54 cents for van freight, 57 cents for reefer, and 70 cents for flatbed.
“Last month’s lower volumes do not mean May was a weak freight market,” says Dean Croke, principal industry analyst at DAT. “The capacity supply has come down to meet demand, and carriers in the spot market are being compensated for it. Add in the migration of capacity toward contract freight for fuel surcharge certainty, and you have a spot market that’s tighter than load volumes alone would suggest.”
