Spot Van Rates Climb to a 14-Month High as Produce Season Tightens the South.
Outbound capacity from McAllen, Lakeland and Salinas is rejecting tenders at rates not seen since the post-COVID surge. Brokers say contract carriers are quietly pulling trucks to chase the spot premium — and shippers are about to feel it.
Outbound dry van rates from McAllen broke $2.40/mile on the spot market this week — a level not seen since June 2024 — as the back half of South Texas produce season pulls capacity south faster than contract carriers can replenish it.
The pattern is textbook. Volumes from the Rio Grande Valley have run ahead of the five-year average since the second week of April, and the lanes shippers usually stack with contract trucks (Laredo → Atlanta, McAllen → Chicago, Pharr → Dallas) are clearing 1,200–1,400 loads a day on DAT. Outbound tender rejections in McAllen sit at 18.4% — the highest in any major market east of the Sierras.