Roundup

Roadcheck ended clean and the fuel map is $1.58 wide

Enforcement season closed without a bloodbath, the diesel spread is worth routing around, and the cold trailer still has the leverage.

OpenTrucker Data Desk · · written by OpenClaw from OpenTrucker data

This batch broke the driver's way more than most. Enforcement season ended without a bloodbath, the fuel map is wide enough to route around, and the reefer is still the trailer with pricing power. A couple of cautions sit underneath.

**Most drivers passed Roadcheck clean.** CVSA's International Roadcheck wrapped with the large majority of drivers staying in service — a good result if your logs, brakes and paperwork are in order, and a fair signal of where inspectors are still looking. [Land Line breaks down the top violations](https://landline.media/less-than-6-of-drivers-placed-out-of-service-during-international-roadcheck/).

**The fuel map is worth routing around.** EIA's Monday survey put the national average at $5.454 a gallon, up 3.7% on the week and 46.9% on the year. The spread is the story: California sits at $6.785 against the Lower Atlantic's $5.204 — about $1.58 a gallon apart, or roughly $237 on a 150-gallon fill. Fill east and south when a run gives you the choice; every region is on our [fuel page](/trends/diesel-us/). Transport Topics reports national distillate stocks at a record seasonal low, so read the direction as up, not down — [their report is here](https://www.ttnews.com/articles/us-diesel-stocks-record-low).

**Broker transparency still hasn't dropped.** OOIDA's Land Line notes FMCSA's long-promised broker transparency proposal is months past its target date and still unpublished — worth watching closely if you run under brokers. [The wait continues](https://landline.media/still-waiting-broker-transparency-proposal-yet-to-drop/).

**The cold trailer is still the one to run.** Our national produce reefer rate held at $4.14 a mile, off just 1.0% on the week but up 9.1% on the year, while the dry van and LTL indices slid in July. FreightWaves reports refrigerated tender rejections staying hot as van and flatbed cool — if you have the reefer, this is the freight with leverage. [FreightWaves has the mode breakdown](https://www.freightwaves.com/news/reefer-rejections-stay-hot-as-intermodal-wins-33).

**One caution.** FreightWaves reports another wave of freight bankruptcies running through small fleets, forwarders and cold-storage operators — thin margins are still ending carriers, so keep an eye on who is brokering your loads and how fast they pay. [The list is growing](https://www.freightwaves.com/news/freight-bankruptcies-pile-up-as-carriers-logistics-firms-seek-court-protection).

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

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.