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May 26 |
Dry van spot rates rise strongly for a second straight week |
Broker-posted spot rates in the Truckstop system for dry van equipment saw a big gain during the week ended May 23 (week 20), resulting in the largest two-week increase in two years. Both strong two-week gains – this year and in 2023 – came during the week of the annual International Roadcheck roadside inspection event and the week that followed. Spot rates for refrigerated and flatbed equipment declined slightly. Load postings fell sharply as expected during the week following Roadcheck.
Note: As noted last week, 2025 and 2024 weeks in the Truckstop do not match up cleanly. For most of the year, this difference does not matter much, but International Roadcheck represents a major distortion that calls for special analysis. Roadcheck occurred in week 20 last year, so this week we are comparing the weeks immediately following Roadcheck in 2025 and 2024 even though they fell in different weeks. We will return to straight y/y comparisons next week, but we might adjust for obvious holiday-related distortions as appropriate through the remainder of the year.
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May 19 |
Van spot rates surge during International Roadcheck week |
Broker-posted spot rates in the Truckstop system for dry van and refrigerated equipment soared during the week ended May 16 (week 19) due to the annual International Roadcheck roadside inspection event, which was held May 13-15. However, spot rates fell for flatbed equipment – unusual for a Roadcheck week. Both dry van and refrigerated saw their largest spot rate increases in a single week since 2023’s Roadcheck week. Total spot load volume rose by the most in a week since the first week of this year.
Note: As we pointed out in early January, due to calendar quirks, a year occasionally ends up with 53 weeks in the data as happened in 2024. Therefore, 2025 weeks do not match up cleanly with 2024 weeks. This disconnect does not matter much for most weeks of the year, but due to the big annual distortion caused by International Roadcheck, the following commentary compares results for the 2025 and 2024 Roadcheck weeks even though they are different weeks of their respective years. Similarly, next week’s analysis will compare the week following Roadcheck in both years.
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May 12 |
Spot rates fall sharply in the latest week |
Broker-posted spot rates in the Truckstop system fell substantially for all equipment types during the week ended May 9 (week 18). Dry van spot rates fell to their lowest level since June 2020. After a sharp increase in the previous week, refrigerated spot rates fell by the most in 12 weeks. Flatbed spot rates saw their largest week-over-week drop since June 2023. Higher spot rates during the current week are virtually a lock due to the annual International Roadcheck roadside inspection event.
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May 5 |
Van spot rates rise while flatbed spot rates decline again |
Broker-posted spot rates in the Truckstop system were flat overall during the week ended May 2 (week 17), but rates for van equipment moved higher. Dry van spot rates rose for the first time in four weeks while refrigerated spot rates posted their largest increase of 2025 so far. The gains were seasonally expected rates, especially in refrigerated, as van rates usually rise in the two weeks before Mother’s Day. Flatbed recorded its first back-to-back rate decreases since the first two weeks of the year.