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Spot truckload rates hit 2025 highs in December as volumes barely move, DAT says

DAT Freight & Analytics said on Jan. 14, 2026, that weather, the holiday calendar and tight capacity lifted December spot rates far more than freight demand did.

By Transport News Staff · Added to the archive

DAT Freight & Analytics reported on Jan. 14, 2026, that spot truckload rates climbed to their highest monthly averages of 2025 in December, even though freight volumes recovered only modestly.

Volumes edged up

DAT's Truckload Volume Index, which tracks the number of loads moved each month, rose for dry van and refrigerated freight in December:

  • Van: 222, up 4% from November and down 3% from December 2024
  • Reefer: 190, up 7% from November and roughly flat year over year
  • Flatbed: 249, down 1% from November and up 3% year over year

The index uses January 2015 as a baseline of 100.

Spot rates jumped

The national average spot van rate rose 20 cents to $2.29 a mile, the reefer rate rose 15 cents to $2.69 and the flatbed rate rose 6 cents to $2.53. Van and reefer spot rates were both the highest monthly averages of the year and nearly 9% above December 2024, DAT said. Flatbed was up 6% year over year.

DAT attributed the increase to seasonal demand running into severe weather, which snarled e-commerce networks and tightened capacity.

"Peak-season spot rates showed up in December," said Ken Adamo, DAT's chief of analytics. He said seasonality, weather, quirks of the holiday calendar and constrained capacity drove prices higher, rather than stronger freight volumes.

Contract rates stayed flat

Contract rates barely moved. The contract van rate was unchanged at $2.46 a mile, while contract reefer and flatbed each slipped 2 cents, to $2.79 and $3.05.

As a result, the gap between spot and contract rates for van and reefer freight narrowed to its smallest since March 2022, which DAT said showed how urgently shippers were trying to secure capacity in December.

What it meant for carriers

The December numbers meant spot rates were climbing toward contract levels without much help from demand. DAT said contract rates were largely flat and volumes rose only modestly.

Adamo described 2025 as busy operationally but said pricing and volumes "barely moved." He said that heading into the first quarter of 2026, normal financial pressures would trim capacity and squeeze broker margins. He added that if tariffs were overturned, there could be "a chaotic couple of quarters as imports surge."

DAT's benchmark spot rates are drawn from invoice data on hauls of 250 miles or more.

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