Spot Rates Hit Multi-Year Highs Across Van, Reefer and Flatbed — Then the Seasonal Cooldown Arrived

After two brutal years of a freight recession that pushed thousands of small carriers out of business, the spot market finally turned. May closed with spot rates at multi-year highs across dry van, refrigerated, and flatbed — the kind of broad strength owner-operators haven't seen since the post-pandemic boom.

Then, right on cue, the calendar showed up.

The flatbed streak ends

In the first weeks of June, spot rates ticked down for van, reefer, and flatbed. Most notably, flatbed ended a run of 24 consecutive week-over-week increases — a remarkable streak that had to break eventually. Before anyone panics: a pullback heading into the July 4th holiday week is one of the most predictable patterns in trucking.

Capacity is tighter, and the leverage is shifting

Two years of losses thinned the herd. With fewer trucks chasing freight, capacity has tightened, and that's beginning to show up where it matters most for the long term: contract negotiations are swinging back toward carriers for the first time in a while. After a stretch where shippers and brokers held all the cards, the pendulum is moving.

What it means for your truck

• Don't read the seasonal dip as the top. Rates following the holiday calendar is normal; the trend underneath still favors carriers.
• Push on your contract/lane rates now. If you haul committed freight, this is the strongest negotiating position O/Os have had in two years.
• Mind the cash gap. Higher rates don't help if brokers pay you in 30 to 45 days — keep a fuel-and-float cushion so a slow-pay doesn't sink a good month.

The market that punished small carriers is finally rewarding the ones who survived it. The question for the back half of 2026 isn't whether rates are up — it's whether you've positioned your operation to keep what the recovery hands you.