Spot Rates Hit $2.66 Flatbed, $2.35 Reefer — 12-Year High
Flatbed climbs for the 17th straight week while dry van and reefer hold steady, all three equipment types running 23–37% above year-ago levels.
Tess Crawford
Markets, Rates, Fuel & Carrier Business
Tess Crawford tracks the money flowing through trucking — spot and contract rates, diesel and crude markets, fuel surcharges, lane capacity, freight demand, LTL tonnage and yield, plus the carrier-business side: bankruptcies, M&A, layoffs, and insurance pricing. She writes for the dispatcher checking the load board between calls and the small-fleet owner reading the P&L over coffee.
Oil Hits Highest Price Since June 2022 as Hormuz Conflict Drags On
Crude surge driven by U.S.-Iran standoff and choked Strait of Hormuz flows — no end date in sight for fuel cost relief.
Paccar Sees Class 8 Sales and Production Jumping in Q2 2026
North American truck output set to accelerate significantly next quarter, Paccar executives say — signaling OEMs expect demand to hold.
Diesel Drops While Gas Climbs — National Average Diesel Down to $4.12
EIA reports diesel at $4.123 per gallon, 8 cents below last week, while AAA pegs retail diesel $1.11 higher at $5.461 — a $1.93 year-over-year jump that hits…
Oil Jumps 3% — Brent at $107.61, WTI at $103.32
Benchmark crude prices posted sharp single-day gains April 29, pushing Brent above $107 and WTI above $103 — the highest settlement in three weeks.
Manhattan Associates Lifts 2026 Forecast After Q1 Revenue Tops $282M
Supply chain software provider raises full-year EPS guidance to $5.29–$5.37 on stronger cloud revenue — but stock remains 16% below December peak.
Brent Crude Holds Above $100 for Eighth Straight Week on Iran Conflict
International benchmark rose 1.8% to $103.76 April 23 — diesel and fuel surcharges track the move.
Intermodal Volume Up 2.2% as Grain and Petroleum Lead Rail Gains
Week ending April 18 pushed year-to-date rail traffic ahead of 2025 levels, with grain up 22.9% and petroleum up 15.5% as Iran conflict whipsaws global prices.
US West Coast Diesel Exports to Australia: What Iran Fuel Shortage Means for Domestic Prices
Rare diesel cargoes are moving from the US West Coast to Australia as the Iran conflict tightens global fuel supply — a trade route shift that could pressure…
CSX Cuts Chicago Barr Yard Operations, Shifts Switching to Belt Railway
CSX dropped daily car inventory at Barr Yard from 1,400–1,800 to 228 as of last week, routing traffic through BRC and IHB to cut transit times.
Brent Crude Hits $103.88 as Iran Conflict Pushes Oil Higher
July Brent rose $2.19 to $103.88 per barrel April 28 — the second straight session above $100 — as the Iran war drags into its second month with no…
Diesel Drops 5.2¢ to $5.35/Gallon — Third Week Down, Futures Turn Up
DOE benchmark fell 29.2 cents over three weeks, but futures and AAA prices signal the decline may be over.