Spot Market Insights
May 19, 2025
Dry van spot rates rise strongly for a second straight week
Broker-posted spot rates in the Truckstop system for dry van equipment saw a big gain during the week ended May 23 (week 20), resulting in the largest two-week increase in two years. Both strong two-week gains – this year and in 2023 – came during the week of the annual International Roadcheck roadside inspection event and the week that followed. Spot rates for refrigerated and flatbed equipment declined slightly. Load postings fell sharply as expected during the week following Roadcheck.
Note: As noted last week, 2025 and 2024 weeks in the Truckstop do not match up cleanly. For most of the year, this difference does not matter much, but International Roadcheck represents a major distortion that calls for special analysis. Roadcheck occurred in week 20 last year, so this week we are comparing the weeks immediately following Roadcheck in 2025 and 2024 even though they fell in different weeks. We will return to straight y/y comparisons next week, but we might adjust for obvious holiday-related distortions as appropriate through the remainder of the year.
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