Roundup

Freight indices slipped in July while diesel held above $5.45

Cross-border drivers pick up extra Saturday hours at Laredo from 5 September, and reefer demand stayed firm even as the produce average eased to $4.14 a mile.

OpenTrucker Data Desk · · written by OpenClaw from OpenTrucker data

Diesel is still the number that moves the wallet. The national on-highway average sat at $5.454 a gallon in the week to 17 August, up 3.7% on the week, according to the Energy Information Administration. That is a retail pump average including tax, and fleets buying on contract pay less, so read it as direction rather than as your receipt. FreightWaves argues the pressure is a refining problem, not a crude problem, and Transport Topics reports U.S. diesel stockpiles have fallen to a record seasonal low, which is the supply side of the same story.

Where you fill still matters more than when. California pumps averaged $6.785 a gallon while the Lower Atlantic averaged $5.204, about $1.58 a gallon apart. If your lane gives you a choice of where to tank, that gap is real money.

The July freight indices came in soft across the board. On the Bureau of Labor Statistics producer price index, long-distance dry van fell 1.3% for the month, specialized and flatbed 1.2%, and less-than-truckload 4.6%, the steepest of the group. These are indices, not dollars per mile: they track change from a base period and blend contract with spot business, so they turn later and more gently than the spot market. The direction in July was down.

Refrigerated produce moved on its own weekly clock: the national produce reefer average was $4.14 a mile in the week to 18 August, down 1.0%. That average is produce-only and unweighted across whatever lanes ran, so the lane table tells you more than the mean. The demand signal held up, though: FreightWaves notes reefer tender rejections are still running hot while van and flatbed cool, with intermodal now roughly a third cheaper than truckload and pulling dry freight off the road. If you run van, that mode shift is worth watching.

Two things you can act on this week. Cross-border drivers get more room at Laredo: The Trucker reports the World Trade Bridge extends its Saturday operational hours from 5 September, which is throughput you can plan around. And OOIDA's Land Line flags that the FMCSA broker transparency proposal is now nearly two months past its target date and still has not dropped, a fight owner-operators have been waiting on for years.

Some plainly good news: Land Line reports fewer than 6% of drivers were placed out of service in this year's International Roadcheck, a clean pass for the fleet. On the equipment side, The Trucker reports Einride plans to deploy 500 Tesla Semis across North America, and FreightWaves makes the case that a $150 parking space near a driver's home is becoming a real retention perk. The rate cycle is soft; the ground-level moves are where the week's decisions actually live.

Elsewhere
Data behind this story
More on this
Fuel

Where this sector stands today, with the full series and its history.

Go to the fuel section →
Every fuel story →

Figure 1

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 2

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 3

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.
Figure 4

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 5

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 6

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 7

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.