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ArchiveRates

Spot van and reefer rates drop sharply in April as contract rates hold at highs

DAT data released in May 2022 showed spot van rates falling 28 cents a mile in April while diesel stayed above $5 a gallon.

By Transport News Staff · Added to the archive

In May 2022, DAT Freight & Analytics reported that truckload spot rates fell sharply in April, adding to pressure on small carriers and owner-operators already dealing with record fuel prices. DAT released the April data on May 23.

Spot rates slide

The national average spot van rate fell 28 cents to $2.77 a mile, the lowest monthly average since August 2021. The spot reefer rate dropped 32 cents to $3.13 a mile. The flatbed spot rate held at a record $3.40 a mile.

Spot rates include fuel. Without fuel, the van rate averaged $2.13 a mile, reefer $2.43 and flatbed $2.63. Diesel averaged $5.12 a gallon in April, up 2 cents from March and $1.99 from a year earlier.

Truck supply outpaced demand on the spot market. The van load-to-truck ratio fell from 4.6 in March to 3.4. The reefer ratio dropped from 8.4 to 6.3, and flatbed from 89.8 to 64.5. Load posts fell 27% from March, while truck posts fell 2.8%.

Contract rates steady

Contract rates did not follow the spot market down. The average contract van rate stayed at $3.26 a mile, matching the prior monthly high. Contract reefer held at $3.43, and contract flatbed rose 9 cents to $3.79.

DAT's Truckload Volume Index fell 10% from March for van and reefer freight and 6% for flatbed. DAT said a March-to-April decline is typical. Compared with April 2021, volumes were 12% higher for van, 10.5% higher for reefer and 15.1% higher for flatbed.

What DAT said

Ken Adamo, DAT's chief of analytics, said shippers were seeing better routing guide compliance, meaning more freight was moving under contract. At the same time, spot-market truckers faced volatile, lower rates and higher fuel costs. He said DAT expected those conditions to continue, but had not yet seen the excess capacity and lack of freight that drove the long downturn of late 2018 and 2019.

What it meant for carriers

The gap between contract and spot pricing widened. Carriers with contract freight still had relatively high rates, while those on the spot market saw revenue fall as diesel stayed near record levels.

With the van line-haul rate, after fuel, at $2.13 a mile, carriers dependent on the load board were working with much thinner margins than earlier in the year.

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