Truck Rates Per Mile: Monthly Rate Report

Updated monthly. This edition: October 22, 2026, with DAT data for the week of October 10 to 16, 2026 and the September 2026 monthly averages.

Dry van, reefer and flatbed rates per mile this month

All-in includes fuel. Linehaul leaves out an amount equal to an average fuel surcharge.

What moved rates this month

• Diesel. DAT's September report tied higher rates to diesel prices above $6 a gallon, which pushed fuel surcharges and all-in rates up.
• Reefer at a record. The September reefer spot average was the highest in DAT's monthly series, with reefer linehaul up 9 cents from August while van and flatbed linehaul eased.
• Year over year. Spot linehaul rates for all three trailer types ran roughly 29% to 35% above a year earlier, after a long freight recession.

Box truck, hotshot and power only

There's no reliable national benchmark for box truck, hotshot or power only rates, so we don't print one. Rates for these swing widely by lane, distance and urgency:

• Box truck: short local and expedited runs often pay the most per mile.
• Hotshot: general freight pays less, expedited and specialized loads pay more.
• Power only: often a little under van rates on the same lane.

Your dispatcher quotes what brokers are paying in your area this week. Weighing steady lanes against the spot market? Here's how spot and contract freight differ.

Why your rate per mile won't match the national average

A national average blends thousands of lanes, busy and slow. Five things move the rate on your load away from it:

• Your market this week. The national figure averages tight and loose markets together. A market with more loads than trucks this week pays above it, and one where trucks are piling up pays below it.
• Direction. The same two cities can pay very differently each way. Loads into a market that ships out little freight, like much of Florida, tend to pay above average, and loads back out tend to pay below it.
• Where freight leaves more than it arrives. States that ship out more truck freight than they take in, like California, Indiana and Tennessee, tend to have more outbound loads per truck. Balanced markets like Illinois and North Carolina usually reload both ways. Our truck dispatch by state pages show the balance for each state.
• Length of haul. Short runs usually pay more per mile than long ones, because the time at pickup and delivery is spread over fewer miles.
• Season. Produce lifts reefer in spring and summer, construction lifts flatbed, and the holiday retail peak lifts van. Our seasonal freight calendar shows the timing.

How to use these numbers

1. Compare like with like. If a broker quotes all-in, compare it to the all-in column. If the rate con splits linehaul and fuel, compare linehaul.
2. Remember they're averages. Your lane can run well above or below the national figure, for the reasons above. Our rate per mile calculator puts your own offer in the same terms.
3. Check against your costs. A rate is only good if it beats your cost per mile once you count empty miles. Here's how to calculate your cost per mile, or use one of our free calculators for owner-operators to check a load.
4. Count the deadhead. Divide the total rate by loaded plus empty miles to get the rate that actually reaches you. Our guide to cutting deadhead shows the math.

Rates by equipment

See what each trailer type is paying and what our dispatchers handle:

• Dry van dispatch
• Reefer dispatch
• Flatbed dispatch

Deciding between trailers? Read reefer vs dry van: which pays better. Our fee on any of them is a flat 6% or 8% of the gross.