Nobody had Spokane, WA at #2 in reefer on their bingo card this week.

The Pacific Northwest just crashed one of the most consistent leaderboards of the summer — Spokane at #2, Pendleton at #3, Portland sneaking into the top ten. The Plains are still there at the top with Sioux Falls reclaiming #1, but the board looks nothing like it has for the past six weeks. The overall reefer market posted one of its biggest week-over-week jumps of the summer. Something is moving up there.

Meanwhile Kentucky locked up all three top spots in flatbed — Lexington, Bowling Green, Louisville — and the Midwest keeps quietly running dry van. Here’s the full September 14 breakdown, powered by a morning snapshot of the Spotter Index.

Dry Van Hot Markets: The Midwest Is Firmly in Charge

Duluth, MN leads dry van this week, with Evansville, Bloomington, and Grand Rapids right behind it. That’s four Midwest markets in the top four — a clean sweep that would have been unthinkable when California was running the show back in July.

Ontario and Los Angeles are still in the top fifteen, so California hasn’t fallen off the map entirely, but it’s clearly not leading anymore. The Southeast is even quieter — Cape Girardeau and Louisville are in the mix, but the South that dominated early summer is a distant memory on the dry van board right now.

The daily moves tell a mixed story. Buffalo jumped nearly 2.5% on the day. Cedar Rapids, Madison, Fort Wayne, and Omaha all posted solid gains. On the other side, Albuquerque dropped nearly 10% — the worst single-day move on the dry van board this week — and St. Louis fell over 2%.

The overall dry van market is essentially flat week over week. It’s been hovering in the low-to-mid 50s since late August and hasn’t found a direction. Steady but soft.

Avoid: Miami, Lakeland, Brooklyn, and the Pacific Northwest continue to anchor the bottom. Jacksonville and Tallahassee are both struggling too.

Reefer Hot Markets: The Pacific Northwest Just Showed Up

This is the story of the week.

Sioux Falls, SD reclaimed the #1 spot in reefer — but that’s almost not the headline. Spokane, WA jumped to #2. Pendleton, OR sits at #3. Portland cracked the top ten at #9. Seattle is at #17. That’s four Pacific Northwest markets in the top seventeen, and three of them in the top three. That hasn’t happened all summer.

The overall reefer market jumped from 59.75 to 63.12 week over week — one of the biggest gains we’ve seen since July. Something real is moving in the Northwest right now, whether it’s produce, agricultural freight, or a capacity squeeze. Worth watching closely heading into next week.

The rest of the top ten is a familiar mix — Omaha, Twin Falls, Minneapolis, St. Cloud, Duluth, Fresno, Stockton, San Francisco. California is back in the top fifteen after fading for a few weeks. Reno cracked the top fifteen too, posting a 1.85% daily gain.

The big single-day moves: Rapid City jumped 4.81%, Bismarck gained 1.9%, Joplin climbed 2.57%, and Rockford was up 2.43%.

On the downside: El Paso dropped 8.37% in a single day — the worst move on the reefer board. Shreveport fell nearly 7%. Amarillo dropped 2.4% after sitting near the top a few weeks ago.

Avoid: Miami, Lakeland, and Jacksonville are near dead last again. Florida reefer has been soft all summer with no sign of a turnaround.

Flatbed Hot Markets: Kentucky Just Locked Up the Top Three

Lexington, KY at #1. Bowling Green, KY at #2. Louisville, KY at #3.

Three Kentucky markets. Top three spots. That’s not something you see often on the flatbed board, and it’s a notable shift from Memphis dominating for most of the summer. Memphis is still right there at #4, so it’s not gone — but Kentucky has clearly stepped up.

The broader Southeast and Midwest are still stacked below the top three. Huntington, WV, South Bend, Decatur, Fort Wayne, Knoxville, Cincinnati — all in the top twelve. The region is running well top to bottom.

The biggest move on the flatbed board: Laredo, TX jumped 8.21% on the day, the largest single-day gain this week. Worth watching if you’re running border freight.

N. Charleston, which held a top three spot for much of the summer, dropped to #9 this week. Not gone, but clearly cooling off.

The overall flatbed market barely moved week over week — up just slightly. Same as it’s been: steady, consistent, the most reliable of the three modes.

What Is the Spotter Index?

The data in this breakdown comes from the Spotter Index, which measures profitability per hour by freight market in real time. It accounts for rate, load characteristics, and time — giving a cleaner read on where trucks actually make money compared to rate-per-mile alone. The snapshot used here was pulled on the morning of September 14.

Frequently Asked Questions

What are the hottest freight markets this week?

For the week of September 14, the hottest reefer markets are Sioux Falls, SD at #1, Spokane, WA at #2, and Pendleton, OR at #3 — a major Pacific Northwest surge. Top dry van is Duluth, MN leading a Midwest sweep of the top four. Flatbed is dominated by Kentucky — Lexington at #1, Bowling Green at #2, Louisville at #3.

Why did the Pacific Northwest suddenly jump to the top of the reefer board?

Spokane, Pendleton, and Portland showing up in the top three is one of the bigger surprises of the summer. The most likely drivers are end-of-season agricultural and produce freight moving out of the Northwest, combined with tighter capacity in the region. Whether this holds into next week or snaps back will be the thing to watch.

Why is Kentucky leading flatbed this week?

Lexington, Bowling Green, and Louisville all cracking the top three in flatbed reflects strong manufacturing and construction demand in the Kentucky corridor. The state has been in the top ten for flatbed most of the summer — this week it just happened to stack all three cities at the very top.

Is the reefer market recovering?

The overall reefer market posted one of its biggest week-over-week gains of the summer this week, jumping from 59.75 to 63.12. That’s a meaningful move and a positive sign after a few soft weeks. The Pacific Northwest surge is driving a lot of that gain.

How often is this market report published?

This breakdown is published weekly, based on a morning snapshot of the Spotter Index. Subscribe to the newsletter to get it in your inbox every Monday before you dispatch.

Where to Run Your Trucks This Week

Reefer: don’t sleep on the Pacific Northwest right now. Spokane, Pendleton, and Portland are at the top of the board and the overall market is climbing. Plains are still strong — Sioux Falls, Omaha, Fargo — but the Northwest is the new story.

Dry van: Midwest all the way. Duluth, Evansville, Bloomington, Grand Rapids. California is still viable but it’s not leading.

Flatbed: Kentucky and the Southeast. Lexington, Bowling Green, Louisville, Memphis. The board is green and the demand is steady.

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Market data powered by the Spotter Index. Real-time profitability data, snapped fresh this morning.