Tariffs, seasonal demand drive flatbed trucking rate increases

Mar 27, 2025 at 10:53 AM CST
Flatbed trucking rates have surged over the past month as steel and lumber shippers hurry to stockpile inventory amid tariff whiplash threatening to roil their supply chains, experts say. A six-week increase in rates has led to the highest flatbed pricing to start a year since 2017, according to DAT, as freight repositioning combines with a typical seasonal pickup in construction and other industries. “Demand usually picks up in March and April as planting, building, construction, machinery imports, and nursery seasons gear up,” DAT Principal Analyst Dean Croke told Trucking Dive in an email. “We’re seeing volumes build up now, with some of that activity driven by uncertainty around tariffs.”

Mar 27, 2025 at 10:53 AM CST

Flatbed trucking rates have surged over the past month as steel and lumber shippers hurry to stockpile inventory amid tariff whiplash threatening to roil their supply chains, experts say.

A six-week increase in rates has led to the highest flatbed pricing to start a year since 2017, according to DAT, as freight repositioning combines with a typical seasonal pickup in construction and other industries.

“Demand usually picks up in March and April as planting, building, construction, machinery imports, and nursery seasons gear up,” DAT Principal Analyst Dean Croke told Trucking Dive in an email. “We’re seeing volumes build up now, with some of that activity driven by uncertainty around tariffs.”