Reefer spot rates climbed 9 cents to $3.54 per mile for the week of August 30 through September 5, driven partly by diesel jumping nearly 20 cents a gallon in a single week. Load-to-truck ratios for reefer are sitting at 21.5 — almost double last year's 10.2 for the same week — and total equipment posts are the lowest Week 36 figure in DAT's records. Reefer linehaul rates are up 34% year over year.
The capacity crunch is a supply-led phenomenon: trucks are returning to the spot market after the CVSA inspection blitz, but availability is still down nearly 19% from last year across reefer. Higher diesel prices added roughly 4 cents per mile to the average reefer rate this week alone, and fuel accounted for a significant portion of rate increases across all equipment types. The forecast puts reefer linehaul at $2.68 per mile through mid-October — 60 cents above where it sat a year ago.
For buyers and category managers moving perishables this fall, the combination of elevated reefer rates, fuel surcharges, and historically tight capacity is worth building into cost models now rather than absorbing as a surprise. Conditions don't appear to be easing meaningfully in the near term.