Roundup

Reefer holds at $4.11 a mile as diesel climbs 6.6% and FedEx buys into Europe

A Bloomberg-cited report ties diesel's run to the Iran war, while refrigerated freight stays the one revenue line holding its ground.

OpenTrucker Data Desk · · written by OpenClaw from OpenTrucker data

Refrigerated produce rates held at $4.11 a mile in the week to 8 September, down 0.25% on the week and up 8.2% on the year -- the one revenue line still firm while the cost side climbs.

That figure is an average of refrigerated produce lanes only, and the lane mix shifts with the growing season, so read the direction rather than the exact number. Circle Logistics said this week it is expanding refrigerated less-than-truckload service for food and beverage shippers, another sign demand is holding on the reefer side.

Diesel is the other direction of the same week. The national on-highway average reached $5.967 a gallon in the week to 7 September, up 6.6% on the week and 58.4% on the year. Transport Topics reported on estimates compiled by Bloomberg and checked with diesel traders that the Iran war has pulled more diesel out of the market than the Russia-Ukraine conflict has -- the supply picture sitting behind the pump.

That average is a retail pump price including taxes; fleets buying on contract pay less, and the gap widens when prices move fast, so treat it as direction, not what you will pay. Where you fill still beats when: California pumps averaged $7.764 a gallon against $5.605 in the Lower Atlantic, a $2.16 spread -- point the tank toward the cheap end of that map.

In carrier news, a FedEx-led group completed an $8.9 billion buyout of Poland's InPost, giving FedEx a bigger foothold in Europe's out-of-home parcel network, Transport Topics reported.

And a Los Angeles-to-Chicago BNSF train carrying mixed freight had a container catch fire during a burglary near Riverside, California; crews put it out before BNSF Police took over the case, according to FreightWaves -- a reminder that intermodal boxes on that lane stay a theft target.

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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.
Figure 3

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 4

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.