Seattle, WA to Los Angeles, CA Freight Rates

The Seattle, WA to Los Angeles, CA lane runs 1135 miles and currently averages $3,100 per truckload, or about $2.73 per mile. Typical transit is 2 days and lane demand is high.

What drives the rate on this lane

Rate per mile on shorter lanes runs higher because loading, unloading and detention time is spread over fewer miles. At 1135 miles, Seattle, WA to Los Angeles, CA prices as a long-haul run, and brokers price it against the high-demand market for this corridor.

Apple/produce season boosts reefer rates in fall.

Cost breakdown on a single run

Work the numbers before you accept an offer. 1135 loaded miles at 6.5 mpg burns roughly 175 gallons of diesel — about $674 at $3.85 per gallon — which is 22% of the average $3,100 linehaul on this lane. Subtract that and you have about $2,426 left to cover maintenance reserve, tires, insurance, the truck payment, tolls, and the driver.

Deadhead is what quietly kills margin here. Every empty mile to the Seattle pickup is paid out of the same $3,100, so a 90-mile repositioning drive drops the effective rate per mile from $2.73 to about $2.53. Carriers who quote off total miles rather than loaded miles are the ones who stay profitable on high-demand corridors like this one.

Hours of service on this run

At a realistic 52 mph door-to-door average, the drive is about 21.8 hours. That exceeds the 11-hour driving limit, so plan a legal reset and a parking spot before the driver runs out of clock — the 2-day transit above already assumes one. Appointment windows matter as much as miles: a receiver that only unloads in a two-hour morning slot turns a legal 21.8-hour drive into a two-day commitment for the truck.

Equipment that moves on this lane

• Dry Van
• Reefer
• Container

Backhaul options

LA to Seattle is a premium northbound lane.

Price this corridor as a round trip. A strong headhaul out of Seattle that leaves the truck sitting two days in Los Angeles nets less per week than a slightly cheaper load into a market that reloads daily. Take the combined revenue of both legs, divide by every mile the truck turns including deadhead, and compare that number — not the headhaul rate — against your break-even.

How to quote this lane profitably

Work backwards from cost per mile. Fuel, maintenance, insurance, and payment on the truck give you a break-even number; anything under it on a 1135-mile run loses money once you add deadhead to the pickup. Use the cost-per-mile and route-profit calculators to check a specific offer against your own numbers before you book it.

Frequently asked

What is the current truckload rate from Seattle, WA to Los Angeles, CA?

The lane averages $3,100 per truckload, about $2.73 per mile across 1135 miles. Spot offers typically land within 10-15% of that number depending on how much lead time the broker has and whether the pickup is a live load or a drop.

How long does the Seattle, WA to Los Angeles, CA run take?

Roughly 21.8 hours of drive time at a 52 mph average, which works out to 2 transit days once you account for hours-of-service breaks, fueling, and appointment windows on both ends.

How much fuel does this lane burn?

At 6.5 mpg you burn about 175 gallons, roughly $674 at $3.85 per gallon. That leaves about $2,426 against the average linehaul before maintenance, insurance, tolls, and the truck payment.

What equipment moves best on this lane?

Dry Van, Reefer, Container. Equipment choice moves the rate more than most carriers expect — specialized trailers on this corridor price above the dry van benchmark because the pool of available trucks is smaller.