# Dry Van Report: Rates cool off as summer freight demand normalizes

Dry van spot linehaul averaged $2.38 per mile this week, down 2.5%, or $0.06 per mile, from the prior week. Rates ran 45.6%, or $0.74 per mile, above the same week in 2025 and held about 33%, or $0.59 per mile, above the nine-year seasonal average, near the top of the historical range.

## Bellwether states

The 10 dry van bellwether states posted a moves-weighted outbound rate of $3.06 per mile in Week 30, down 2.9%, or $0.09 per mile, week over week and up 47.9%, or $0.99 per mile, year over year. The roster carried 35.0% of all U.S. state-outbound van loads, in line with its recent baseline, which shows the core freight base behind the national number held steady.

## Regional rate trends

| Rank | Origin Region     | Avg RPM | WoW % | YoY % |
|------|-------------------|---------|-------|-------|
| 1    | California        | $2.75   | -1.4% | +47.3%|
| 2    | Southeast         | $2.65   | -5.5% | +53.6%|
| 3    | Ohio River        | $2.62   | -2.3% | +45.3%|
| 4    | Carolinas         | $2.57   | -4.5% | +49.9%|
| 5    | Great Lakes       | $2.53   | -2.6% | +41.6%|
| 6    | South Central     | $2.50   | -3.4% | +49.6%|
| 7    | Lower Midwest     | $2.46   | -3.3% | +40.8%|
| 8    | Upper Atlantic    | $2.15   | -1.1% | +32.3%|
| 9    | Lower Mountain    | $2.02   | -2.9% | +40.0%|
| 10   | Florida-So Georgia| $1.90   | -7.3% | +54.1%|

The top 10 origins carried 87.7% of all U.S. outbound loads moved in the week. Upper Atlantic held up best week over week at -1.1%, while every leading origin eased from the prior week as summer volumes softened.

## Market conditions

Dry van load posts in Week 30 were down 7.5% from the prior week but up 28.6% from a year ago. Equipment posts fell 3.2% on the week and ran 26.1% below last year, so posted freight and capacity both eased while loads pulled back faster. The load-to-truck ratio settled at 10.23, off 4.4% for the week yet 74.0% higher than a year ago, a direct read on how much capacity has left the lane.

## Short-term outlook

RateCast projects dry van spot easing to $2.27 per mile by day 35 (08-29-26), about 4.1%, or $0.10 per mile, below the current $2.37. The day-35 uncertainty band spans roughly plus or minus $0.08, or 3.4% of the point forecast, the widest of the three equipment types this week, so treat the projection as a range rather than a fixed number. The end-of-forecast rate would still stand well above the $1.65 actual recorded near the same date a year earlier.

## Weekly reports

- [Dry van](https://www.dat.com/blog/category/van-markets)  
- [Reefer](https://www.dat.com/blog/category/reefer-markets)  
- [Flatbed](https://www.dat.com/blog/category/flatbed-markets)