Dry van contract linehaul reached $2.39 per mile in August 2026, while spot linehaul fell to $2.17—a $0.22-per-mile contract premium. The comparison covers linehaul only, not the full freight bill, which also includes fuel surcharges. The figures come from the October 2026 U.S. Bank Freight Payment Index – Rates Edition, produced with DAT Freight & Analytics, and cover June through August.
How dry van spot and contract linehaul rates changed
The spread reversed over the three months: spot was more expensive in June, the rates nearly met in July, and contract was higher in August. U.S. Bank and DAT report these monthly dry van linehaul averages:
| Month 2026 | Spot linehaul per mile | Contract linehaul per mile | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| June | $2.38 | $2.30 | Spot higher by $0.08 |
| July | $2.35 | $2.38 | Contract higher by $0.03 |
| August | $2.17 | $2.39 | Contract higher by $0.22 |
The August $0.22 gap is the difference between the two linehaul rates per mile; it is not a surcharge or a measure of how much more a shipper paid for an entire load. Actual shipment costs depend on mileage, fuel, and other applicable charges. The release’s principal figures are averages, not route-specific quotes, and should not be generalized to every lane or equipment type.
Why the gap opened
Contract and spot prices reflect different kinds of freight
Contract rates apply to committed capacity, while spot freight is transactional. From June to August, contract linehaul rose by $0.09 per mile as spot fell by $0.21. That divergence is consistent with a market in which committed capacity held or gained value while transactional freight softened; it does not establish a single cause for the change.
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U.S. Bank and DAT’s earlier April 2026 release described the contract premium as having narrowed from about $0.39 per mile a year earlier to about $0.11 by March 2026. The August spread therefore marks a change in direction from that earlier compression, although the releases cited here do not provide every intervening month’s figures.
Load counts also fell in August
FreightWaves reported that August spot loads declined 3.2% month over month to 1,264,897 and contract loads declined 1.3% to 740,249. It also reported contract loads were down 27.7% year over year and spot loads down 5.7%. These volume movements accompanied the rate shift; they do not, by themselves, explain it.
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FreightWaves quoted Bob Costello, chief economist at the American Trucking Associations, from an August Fleet Owner column: “the industry is seeing a recovery, but that is nearly all due to excess capacity leaving the market.” That is an attributed interpretation of market conditions, not proof that capacity changes alone caused the contract/spot reversal.
Why linehaul is not the whole freight cost
Fuel is a separate component from linehaul. U.S. Bank and DAT reported average fuel surcharges rising from $0.62 per mile in June to $0.70 in August. A linehaul rate comparison alone therefore cannot show how the total transportation cost changed over the period.
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Patrick Pretorius, DAT’s general manager of shipper segment, said fuel made up about 21% of the per-mile broker-to-shipper dry van spot rate in June and 24% in August. He also said diesel was “trending higher into the fall”; that was his time-sensitive outlook in the October 2026 release, not a guarantee of subsequent fuel prices. Jeff Pape, U.S. Bank Corporate Payment Systems’ head of transportation, emphasized the distinction: “Fuel costs are increasing while linehaul pricing is softening, making it important for transportation teams to closely analyze the components of their freight spend.”
FreightWaves quoted Jennifer Bullock, freight audit and analytics manager at CommScope, saying, “Stable rates do not necessarily mean stable transportation costs.” Her recommendation was to separate fuel from linehaul to identify where pricing pressure is changing.
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How to compare a spot quote with a contract rate
- Match the rate component. Check whether each figure is linehaul-only or includes fuel and other charges. The August 22-cent difference is linehaul-only.
- Match the timing. Spot was eight cents above contract in June, but contract was 22 cents above spot in August; a single month’s spread is not a permanent relationship.
- Account for the commitment. Contract pricing is tied to committed capacity; spot pricing is transactional. Compare the price with the service and capacity arrangement, not just the cents-per-mile figure.
- Check volume alongside price. The August load counts reported by FreightWaves fell month over month, but volume changes alone do not identify the cause of a particular quote.
- Keep the comparison within scope. The figures here are dry van averages. The cited October release does not establish equivalent spreads for every route, equipment type, or shipment.
For broader context, FreightWaves reported that August 2026 spot linehaul was up 35.6% year over year from $1.60 per mile in August 2025, while contract linehaul was up 20.1% from $1.99. Those annual comparisons show that both rates were higher than a year earlier even as spot declined from its June 2026 level.
Pretorius recommended that shippers who had focused on reducing rate per mile shift attention toward consolidation and network planning, arguing that the market was tightening from two directions. That is his operational recommendation; the appropriate response will depend on a shipper’s own freight network and commitments.
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