Flatbed Report: Farm iron stacks up, and flatbed demand will feel it
Flatbed spot linehaul rates paid to carriers averaged $2.59 per mile last week, minus fuel, down 0.5%, or $0.01 per mile, from the week before. The post Flatbed Report: Farm iron stacks up, and…
Flatbed spot linehaul rates paid to carriers averaged $2.59 per mile last week, minus fuel, down 0.5%, or $0.01 per mile, from the week before. Rates climbed 28.0%, or $0.57 per mile, year over year and held 23.4%, or $0.49 per mile, above the nine-year seasonal average of $2.10 per mile, near the top of the historical range.
All rates cited are linehaul only. They exclude fuel costs and surcharges unless otherwise noted.
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Bellwether states
Across the flatbed bellwether states, the moves-weighted outbound rate came in at $3.20 a mile, easing 0.3%, or $0.01 a mile, from the week before last and running 26.4%, or $0.67 a mile, above a year ago. Those states carried 53.0% of the country’s outbound flatbed loads last week, up from 50.9% the week before last and 50.3% a year ago — in line with the 51% to 53% share the group usually holds.
Regional rate trends
| Flatbed — Top 10 Origins by Rate Per Mile · Week Ending September 25, 2026 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | Origin Region | Avg RPM | WoW % | YoY % |
| 1 | Ohio River | $3.22 | +0.5% | +39.6% |
| 2 | Southeast | $3.21 | +0.3% | +38.7% |
| 3 | Carolinas | $2.95 | +1.8% | +37.9% |
| 4 | Great Lakes | $2.85 | -0.1% | +35.0% |
| 5 | Upper Atlantic | $2.56 | +1.5% | +34.7% |
| 6 | Lower Midwest | $2.49 | -0.8% | +19.9% |
| 7 | South Central | $2.46 | -1.5% | +23.6% |
| 8 | Florida-So Georgia | $2.26 | -2.2% | +30.8% |
| 9 | California | $2.20 | -1.2% | +30.1% |
| 10 | Lower Mountain | $1.66 | -2.6% | +12.0% |
The top 10 outbound markets accounted for 87.9% of flatbed loads moved last week, and every one of them held well above its year-ago level, with gains ranging from roughly 12% to 39%. Carolinas put in the strongest week-over-week showing, up 1.8%, or $0.05 a mile, to $2.95 — the best performer in a top 10 where movement was otherwise mixed and mostly negative.
Market conditions
Flatbed load posts slipped 0.8% week over week but held 19.2% above last year. Equipment posts dropped 5.7% and are down 21.4% against a year ago — a steeper pullback than freight saw. That gap tightened the load-to-truck ratio to 41.38 from 39.34, the firmest reading of any segment last week.
Short-term outlook
The 35-day DAT Rate Forecast places flatbed spot near $2.56 a mile by late October, inside a confidence band of about plus or minus $0.07 a mile, or 2.6% of the forecast — the middle of the three equipment types DAT iQ tracks. That endpoint sits about $0.53 a mile above the actual rate on this date last year, when flatbed ran $2.03 a mile, so the year-over-year premium holds even as week-to-week movement settles.
Weekly reports
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