Flatbed Rates

Flatbed Truckload (TL) Sector – December 2025

Flatbed market conditions through December 2025 continue to reflect persistent weakness tied to slow industrial production, delayed infrastructure spending, and broad private-sector caution. While weather-related disruptions briefly tightened capacity in early December, ACT Research’s December Freight Forecast confirms that underlying fundamentals remain soft. Construction, manufacturing, and energy-related freight continue to lag, leaving flatbed as one of the weakest-performing truckload segments.

Pre-tariff activity earlier in the fall has fully unwound, and any recent rate stability has been driven more by temporary capacity disruptions than by sustained freight improvement.

Spot Market Rates

Flatbed spot rates held relatively steady into December, benefiting marginally from winter weather disruptions but lacking meaningful demand support. Year-over-year comparisons continue to overstate strength due to last year’s depressed baseline rather than genuine recovery. ACT notes that underlying volumes remain weak across steel, machinery, construction materials, and energy-related freight.

Load postings remain below normal seasonal levels, and flatbed capacity remains ample despite modest tightening in other TL segments. Public infrastructure freight continues to provide a limited floor, but federal disbursements remain slow and project timelines continue to slip. Ongoing softness in manufacturing and a housing market still in recession continue to weigh heavily on flatbed networks.

Contract Market Rates

Flatbed contract rates remained largely unchanged through December, extending the flat pricing environment that has persisted throughout 2025. Shippers remain defensive, favoring short bid cycles and aggressive cost control amid uncertain industrial demand. Year-over-year comparisons remain negative, and ACT’s December outlook points to little near-term pricing momentum.

Carriers continue to prioritize margin preservation over expansion, deploying equipment selectively and maintaining discipline around network balance and yield management. Without improvement in upstream commodity demand, construction activity, or industrial utilization, contract rates are expected to remain stagnant into early 2026.

Outlook

The flatbed segment is expected to remain under pressure through late 2025 and into the first half of 2026. Tariff-driven cost inflation affecting steel, heavy equipment, and components—combined with weak industrial and energy freight and slow-moving infrastructure funding—continues to constrain recovery.

A meaningful rebound will depend on:

Faster federal infrastructure disbursement
Improved manufacturing utilization rates
Clearer and more stable trade and emissions-policy guidance

Until those factors materialize, flatbed carriers are expected to continue prioritizing yield discipline, operating efficiency, and asset control, with no material pricing upside anticipated before mid-2026.

To see how flatbed rates change in the future, and for detailed analysis and forecasts or truckload, less-than-truckload, and intermodal, see ACT's freight & transportation forecast.