The national flatbed benchmark for the week of 6 July 2026 to 12 July 2026, snapshot recorded 8 July 2026: what the carrier is paid, what the shipper pays, what it works out to on a real lane, and what it leaves the truck once its own costs are covered.
| Measure | Week 28, 2026 | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| Carrier rate per mile | $2.65 | What lands on the rate confirmation. |
| Shipper all-in per mile | $3.05 | Before any accessorial actually incurred on the load. |
| vs prior snapshot | — | Not comparable — see below. |
| Snapshot recorded | 8 July 2026 | Never edited afterwards — this page keeps showing the week 28 number. |
This is the first recorded snapshot for flatbed, so there is nothing to compare it against yet.
Rate is rarely why a flatbed load sits. On this equipment the questions a carrier needs answered before he will call are specific:
A posting at $2.65 a mile that answers all of those covers faster than one at a higher number that answers none of them. Post a flatbed load →
This week’s benchmark multiplied by real lane distance. A starting point for a conversation rather than a quote — direction, season and the receiving requirement all move the true number, and none of them are in a national average.
| Lane | Distance | Carrier gets | Shipper pays |
|---|---|---|---|
| Houston, TX → Denver, CO | 1,030 mi | $2,730 | $3,142 |
| Birmingham, AL → Chicago, IL | 660 mi | $1,749 | $2,013 |
| Pittsburgh, PA → Charlotte, NC | 450 mi | $1,192 | $1,372 |
Distances are practical truck miles and will differ slightly from a car routing.
Against a working all-in operating cost of $1.90 per mile for a one-truck carrier, this week’s flatbed benchmark of $2.65 leaves +$0.75 per loaded mile — about $525 on a 700-mile run, before deadhead and before any unpaid time at a dock.
That gap is not profit. It is what has to absorb the empty miles to the next pickup, a wait nobody paid for, a week with a bad reload, and the repair that has not happened yet. A rate that clears the floor by a few cents only works if nothing goes wrong. Work out your own cost per mile →
Week to week, mostly noise. Over a season, these are the things that actually decide where this benchmark sits.
| Tarping | A tarped load is an extra hour or more of physical work and should carry its own fee. A quote that does not mention tarping almost certainly has not priced it. |
| Construction season | Spring and summer building activity in the Midwest and South lifts flatbed hard. Winter in the northern lanes drops it just as hard. |
| Securement complexity | Chains, binders, straps, edge protection and coil racks are the carrier’s cost and time. Freight needing unusual securement narrows the pool of trucks that can legally take it. |
The full flatbed rate hub → carries the rest, plus the specification table, the regional breakdown and the accessorial impact.
The national benchmark was $2.65 per mile to the carrier for the week of 6 July 2026 to 12 July 2026, which works out to about $3.05 all-in for the shipper before accessorials.
It depends entirely on your own cost per mile. Against a working all-in operating cost of $1.90 for a one-truck carrier it leaves +$0.75 per loaded mile — before deadhead, which typically takes a further sixth off it.
A national benchmark blends lanes running in both directions, appointment and FCFS freight, and every region at once. Your lane is one direction, one receiving requirement and one market. Direction alone can move a real quote by a third.
No. Detention, layover, TONU and lumper fees all sit outside the per-mile number. On a short lane they can be worth more than the whole margin — see the detention policy.
No, and deliberately so. This is a dated report and it keeps showing the week 28 number. The evergreen Flatbed rate hub always carries the current figure.