Spot rates ease off record highs as fresh capacity enters the market
Truckload demand cooled in the week ending July 18: load posts fell 9% to 3.09 million while equipment posts ticked up 1%, and all-in spot rates eased across the board — dry van averaged $2.99 per mile, reefer $3.41, and flatbed $3.62. Flatbed's linehaul rate slipped 5 cents, ending a 17-week run of increases that had added 69 cents per mile since early March — though it remains an all-time high for Week 29, 24 cents above the 2021 record. Spot rates still sit roughly 40-50% above year-ago levels, and diesel's latest EIA print stands at $4.80 after the year's biggest weekly jump.
Outlook: One softer week in a market still running 40-50% above last year is a window, not a turn: carriers who line up equipment and financing while capacity briefly loosens will be positioned first when demand snaps back.
Data: EIA, DAT, FreightWaves SONAR, BLS, ATRI, FMCSA — Employment: 1.467M (-0.1% MoM)
