Roundup

FMCSA warns of Motus scam as freight firms and diesel climbs again

Rates rose in every truckload and LTL segment but flatbed in August, while the national diesel average reached $5.967 a gallon for the week to September 7.

OpenTrucker Data Desk · · written by OpenClaw from OpenTrucker data

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration is warning carriers about an email scam built around its new Motus registration system. If you get a message telling you to register or re-verify through Motus, slow down and confirm it with the agency directly before you click anything, because fraudsters are using the rollout as cover.

The rate picture underneath firmed again in August, and in most segments plainly so. On the Bureau of Labor Statistics producer price index, dry van truckload rose 1.9% on the month to 207.6 and is up 13.9% on the year. Less-than-truckload climbed 4.5% to 306.8. The all-trucking index rose 1.9% to 213.3. Flatbed and specialized freight was the one holdout, slipping 0.8% to 166.2, though it is still 8.0% higher than a year ago.

Those are indices, not dollars per mile: they track change from a base period, blend contract with spot business, and August is still preliminary, so they turn later and more gently than a spot rate would. Read them as direction.

The demand signals point the same way. The Commerce Department reported retail sales rose 1.2% in August, and FreightWaves says its Sonar data shows the first year-on-year volume growth in 42 months as peak season approaches -- tentative, but the first such reading in over three years. Refrigerated produce was the quiet segment: the national reefer average barely moved, down 0.3% to $4.11 a mile in the week to September 8, though it remains 8.2% above a year ago. That average is produce-only and unweighted across active lanes, so the lane table matters more than the headline number.

The cost side is where it bites. The national on-highway diesel average reached $5.967 a gallon in the week to September 7, up 6.6% in a single week and 58.4% on the year. That is a retail pump price including taxes; fleets buying on contract pay less. Trade outlets report it has since pushed past $6.28 (Trucking Dive), with a Saudi pipeline closure squeezing supply (Transport Topics). Where you fill still swings the bill: California ran $7.764 a gallon against $5.605 in the Lower Atlantic, a $2.16 spread, so plan fills toward the cheaper regions where a route allows.

Two more items for anyone running the numbers. The Federal Reserve lifted its key rate a quarter point to about 3.9%, its first hike in three years, which over time means costlier truck and equipment loans (Transport Topics). And J.B. Hunt warned third-quarter earnings could fall 5% to 10% on surging fuel and driver costs, sending its shares down 12% (FreightWaves), a reminder the fuel squeeze is real even as freight revenue firms.

It is also National Truck Driver Appreciation Week. Whatever the indices did, the trucks still moved the freight.

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Figure 1

General freight trucking, long-distance truckload

Index, Dec 2003 = 100 Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Dry van truckload. An index, not a rate. It tracks change from a base period rather than dollars per mile, and it blends contract and spot business, so it moves later and more gently than a spot rate would. NAICS 484121.
Figure 2

General freight trucking, long-distance less-than-truckload

Index, Dec 2003 = 100 Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics LTL. LTL pricing is set very differently from truckload -- published tariffs, negotiated discounts and accessorials -- so this index is not comparable to the truckload one in level, only in direction. NAICS 484122.
Figure 3

Specialized freight trucking, long-distance

Index, Dec 2003 = 100 Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Flatbed and specialized. The nearest public proxy for flatbed, but it is broader than flatbed alone: NAICS 484230 covers every kind of specialised long-distance hauling except household goods. No free source isolates flatbed by itself.
Figure 4

On-highway diesel price, National average

Dollars per gallon Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration National average. A retail pump average including taxes, surveyed every Monday. Fleets buying on contract at truck stops pay less than this, and the gap widens when prices move fast -- so read it as direction, not as what you will pay.
Figure 5

Refrigerated produce truck rate, national average

Dollars per mile Source: USDA Agricultural Marketing Service Reefer rate per mile. Refrigerated produce only, and an unweighted mean across whichever lanes were active that week -- so the mix shifts with the growing season. Treat week-to-week moves in the lane table as more meaningful than in this average.
Figure 6

On-highway diesel price, California

Dollars per gallon Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration California. A retail pump average including taxes, surveyed every Monday. Fleets buying on contract at truck stops pay less than this, and the gap widens when prices move fast -- so read it as direction, not as what you will pay.
Figure 7

On-highway diesel price, Lower Atlantic (PADD 1C)

Dollars per gallon Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration Lower Atlantic (PADD 1C). A retail pump average including taxes, surveyed every Monday. Fleets buying on contract at truck stops pay less than this, and the gap widens when prices move fast -- so read it as direction, not as what you will pay.