Cost & quotes
Freight Shipping Rates: Contract, Spot, and What You Are Buying
Freight shipping rates are a mix of contracted linehaul, fuel tables, and spot capacity. Know which one you are being offered.
Updated 2026-08-20 · freight shipping rates
Freight shipping rates are the price of capacity on a given day, in a given direction, for a given piece of equipment. A dry van from Dallas to Atlanta in a balanced week does not price like a reefer pulling out of a produce valley when harvest peaks. Treating last month’s confirmation as this month’s rate is how invoices surprise finance.
COL Freight Solutions works FTL and LTL across North America from offices in Saint Petersburg, Florida, and Los Gatos, California. We do not sell a fake national average. Tell us the lane, the commodity, and the calendar, and we will return rates you can tender against—or explain why the market moved overnight.
How freight shipping rates are assembled
Linehaul is the engine: miles, equipment type (dry van, reefer, flatbed), and whether the truck is exclusive (FTL) or shared (LTL). Fuel surcharge sits on top, usually as a percentage or a cents-per-mile addendum tied to a diesel benchmark. Accessorials are the third layer and only appear if the facilities force extra work.
LTL rate bases still use hundredweight (CWT) and class. Two carriers can show different CWT tables on the same ZIP pair because their networks, terminal density, and discount programs differ. That is not a trick; it is network math.
Contract rates versus spot rates
A contract or awarded lane rate assumes a volume cadence and a service commitment. It is useful when you ship the same corridor every week. Spot rates clear the market when you have a one-off, a surge, or a lane the contract never covered. Spot can be lower in a loose market and much higher when trucks are scarce.
Ask which number you are looking at. Mixing a contracted FTL with a spot LTL on the same spreadsheet is how “the broker overcharged us” stories start. They may have been quoting different products.
Direction, equipment, and seasonal pressure
Headhaul versus backhaul matters. A trailer that needs to return to a freight-rich region may price more aggressively than one heading into a dead zone. Flatbed and reefer capacity is thinner than dry van, so those rates move faster when weather or harvest hits.
- Name equipment: van, reefer, flatbed, or specialized.
- Say if the load is live load, drop trailer, or appointment only.
- Flag produce, retail peak, or weather windows that historically tighten trucks.
Turning a rate into a bookable tender
A rate that omits fuel, liftgate, or border dwell is a marketing number. COL Freight will show the stack we are bidding: linehaul, fuel logic, and known extras. Recurring shippers can also ask about the Transportation Cost Recovery Program™, which is not a discount coupon but a partner recovery on qualified spend.
Call 561-880-9808 or email shipping@colfreightsolutions.com with origin, destination, equipment, and dates. Licensed property broker, USDOT 4427559, MC-1741651.
