Per-mile spot market rates for all three major truckload segments — dry van, reefer and flatbed — rose in April, according to data from Truckstop.com. The gains are in line with seasonal trends, but they could also reflect the beginning of a rate swell predicted by trucking analysts to occur this year.
Flatbed rates have soared in recent months and continued to their upward streak in April. The gains for reefer and van, however, come amid an otherwise choppy spell for the two segments.
Flatbed led the rate increases in April, climbing 6 cents to $2.22 a mile, according to Truckstop.com data, which is an average derived from transactional data and measures the actual rate paid to carriers after negotiations with brokers. Flatbed’s April average was the highest per-mile rate for the segment in nearly two years. It topped April 2016’s average by 16 cents:
Reefer rates moved up 4 cents in the month, averaging $2.02 a mile in April. That’s a penny shy of last April’s average and comes after a 13-cent drop in March:
Van rates also added 4 cents in the month. It’s $1.88 a mile in April was 3 cents higher than the same month in 2016:
