Reefer holds its premium as diesel hits five-year highs

Fuel is the through-line this stretch, climbing in every region we track, but the rate side isn't all pointing the same way — reefer is paying, the used-truck market is still moving, and a broker rule that matters to owner-operators is back in play.

**Reefer is still paying; dry van isn't.** Our national reefer rate ran $4.21 a mile in the week to Aug. 25, up 1.81% on the week and 14.66% on the year, while the dry van truckload index slipped 1.25% in July. If you have the refrigerated trailer, this is the side of the market to be working — the two segments have moved apart far enough that trailer choice is a real lever right now.

**Diesel hit five-year highs, and the regions have split.** The national average reached $5.652 a gallon in the week to Aug. 24, up 3.63% on the week and 52.43% on the year. The spread is what to route around: California sits at $7.040 against the Gulf Coast's $5.481 — about $1.56 a gallon apart, or roughly $234 on a 150-gallon fill — and the Gulf Coast is up 64.69% on the year, the fastest climb of any region we track. FreightWaves makes the case that this run-up has staying power, tracing it to refinery outages and supply cuts.

**Broker transparency is back on the table.** FMCSA has revived the freight broker transparency proposal it never finalized after the 2024 comment period, giving carriers another shot at a rule on seeing a broker's paperwork on a load, as Transport Topics reports.

**The used-truck market is still moving.** Used Class 8 sales rose again in July year over year, ACT Research reported — a sign small carriers are still buying iron rather than sitting on the sidelines.

**Congress bought the highway program more time.** The House passed a stopgap measure that funds federal surface transportation programs into early December, per Transport Topics, pushing the next fight over a full highway bill down the road but keeping projects funded for now.