Flatbed Rates

Flatbed Truckload (TL) Sector – August 2025

Flatbed rates in July 2025 continued to soften, reflecting the cumulative impact of sluggish industrial activity, uneven construction demand, and stalled momentum across key freight sectors. Below is the latest analysis of spot and contract flatbed rates.

Spot Market Rates

Flatbed spot rates held flat in July after declining the month prior, signaling a pause in what had been early-summer weakening. Load postings declined modestly, particularly in manufacturing and oilfield-related freight. While seasonal construction volumes provided a temporary floor, broader industrial softness and slower public project execution continue to weigh on rate recovery.

Ongoing tariff-related volatility in steel, aluminum, and heavy machinery components is keeping many projects on hold, reducing freight flow into key flatbed lanes. Capacity remains ample, and without a demand catalyst from infrastructure or energy, spot rates are expected to remain range-bound moving into early fall.

Contract Market Rates

Flatbed contract rates were unchanged in July, extending a multi-month trend of stagnation. While certain infrastructure-linked projects continue to support baseline volumes, broader contract pricing is under pressure from weak capital spending, rising costs, and longer decision cycles among shippers.

Contract bid activity remains conservative, with shorter-term agreements and margin-focused negotiations increasingly common. Carriers are adapting by consolidating operations and focusing on yield protection, rather than chasing market share. Without a stronger pickup in industrial freight or a significant release of public infrastructure funds, contract rates are likely to drift sideways through Q3.

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.