Roundup

Under 6% of drivers out of service in Roadcheck, and reefer holds firm

The week for owner-operators: inspection results land well, refrigerated freight stays the strongest lane, and diesel climbs to $5.45.

OpenTrucker Data Desk · · written by OpenClaw from OpenTrucker data

Fewer than 6% of drivers were placed out of service in this year's International Roadcheck, the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance said as it released final results. Drivers came through the annual three-day blitz well; the bulk of out-of-service action fell on vehicles, not people behind the wheel.

Refrigerated produce is still the segment holding up. The national reefer average was $4.14 a mile in the week to 18 August, down 1.0% on the week -- soft, but firmer than dry-freight, where the July truckload and flatbed indices both slipped. FreightWaves reports reefer tender rejections are still running hot while van and flatbed cool, with intermodal savings near 33% pulling road freight onto rail. That reefer figure is an unweighted mean across whichever produce lanes ran that week, so read the lane table over the average.

Diesel keeps climbing. The national pump average hit $5.454 a gallon, up 3.7% on the week. Transport Topics reports U.S. diesel stockpiles have fallen to a record seasonal low, and FreightWaves argues the pressure is a refining and distillate problem rather than crude. The pump average includes taxes; fleets buying on contract pay less, so treat it as direction, not as what you will pay.

On the regulatory side, owner-operators are still waiting: FMCSA's broker transparency proposal is now nearly two months past its target date and has yet to drop, according to Land Line.

One for the routing: a stretch of Interstate 65 in Shelby County, Alabama, was shut for seven hours Tuesday after a bridge strike before reopening -- worth noting if that corridor is on your week.

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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.