Roundup

Reefer firms while dry freight cools, and ELD access is back

Enforcement and platform disputes dominated the week, but the cold trailer kept paying.

OpenTrucker Data Desk · · written by OpenClaw from OpenTrucker data

This was a week defined by enforcement and platform friction more than by freight demand, but the numbers left an opening: refrigerated freight is still firming while the dry side cools.

**The cold trailer is still the one paying.** USDA's produce reefer average ran $4.21 a mile in the week to August 25, up 1.8% on the week and 14.7% on the year. Over the same stretch July's producer price indices went the other way — dry van truckload off 1.25% and less-than-truckload off 4.6%. If you have the reefer, this is the freight to chase. [Our reefer rate trend.]

**And route the fill.** EIA's Monday survey put the national diesel average at $5.454 a gallon, up 3.7% on the week and 46.9% on the year. The cheapest pumps, in the Lower Atlantic at $5.204, sit about $1.58 under California's $6.785 — roughly $240 on a 150-gallon fill for buying on the right side of that line. [Every region is on our fuel page.]

**Motive and Highway restore ELD data access.** FreightWaves reports the two platforms settled a dispute that had throttled how often Highway could pull Motive customers' electronic logging data; carriers who authorize the connection get normal access back.

**Broker transparency reaches the White House.** FreightWaves reports FMCSA's broker transparency rulemaking cleared its last internal review on August 27 and moved to the White House regulatory office — the step before publication of a rule that would let carriers see the broker's paperwork on a load.

**Three more states drop non-domiciled CDL programs.** Transport Topics reports that, under a federal enforcement crackdown, additional states are exiting the voluntary programs, with real compliance changes for drivers who hold those licenses.

**Cargo theft climbed again.** FreightWaves reports reported U.S. theft rose 5% in the second quarter, with California and Texas accounting for more than half of cases and Southern California still the hot spot — a reason to tighten yard and drop-lot security on those lanes.

**Washington moves to loosen truck engine efficiency rules.** FreightWaves reports the administration is proposing to pull NHTSA out of directly regulating the fuel efficiency of Class 8 engines and components.

The through-line: costs and rules are shifting under carriers this week, but the rate data still points at the reefer.

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Figure 1

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 2

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.