Diesel Hits $5.40/Gallon, Gasoline $4 in Record August Spike
Fuel costs reach all-time highs for the month, adding $270 per week to a typical over-the-road truck's operating expense.
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.
J.B. Hunt Adds Recruiters as Driver Market Tightens, Intermodal Bids Surge
Large carrier reports highest driver recruitment needs since 2022 while intermodal pricing lags truckload by 34%, creating what one exec calls 'the summer of…
Brent Crude Dips to $87.18 After 5% Surge on Hormuz Uncertainty
Oil settled 0.6% lower Aug. 11 after Monday's jump. Strait reopening timeline still unclear.
Schneider Expects Driver Capacity to Keep Falling Through 2026
Green Bay carrier sees ongoing supply reduction through year-end as driver exits continue.
U.S. Trade Deficit Narrows to $73.3B as Imports Drop 1.8% in June
The gap shrank 5.6% from May as computer and semiconductor imports slowed. Capital goods imports fell for the first time since September.
Trimac Buys California Freight, Second West Coast Bulk Deal in Two Years
The Canadian food-grade hauler adds another California bulk carrier to its portfolio, continuing a West Coast expansion that started in 2024.
LTL Tonnage Up 5% in July as Manufacturing Hits Four-Year High
Four major LTL carriers beat seasonal volume trends by 250 to 400 basis points in July. Manufacturing PMI at 55.6, highest since May 2022, signals more…
How a private fuel fleet kept pumps open when winter shut down freight
Fuel South Express pre-staged drivers, automated routing, and ran predictive maintenance to supply Circle K stores through back-to-back winter freezes that…
Spot Rates Run 40% to 70% Above Contract on Infrequent Lanes
RXO exec says contract awards on low-frequency routes carry almost no chance of being honored when capacity is tight. Shippers who proactively raised rates…
Two Brothers Left Cox Automotive to Build a Mobile Fleet Shop
Kyle and Kevin Coltrain watched their family's mobile maintenance company get rolled up twice, then launched Coltrain Onsite with 70 techs across 15 states.…
Schneider Locks Double-Digit Contract Rate Hikes as Spot Nears 2021 Peak
One-way fleet captured double-digit contract increases in Q2. June spot market resembled March 2021. Schneider raised full-year EPS guidance 18%.
Rail Volume Up 2% to 6%, Intermodal Gains Drive Truck-to-Rail Shift
Four Class 1 railroads raised guidance after Q2 earnings showed broad-based volume growth. Union Pacific domestic intermodal set a fourth straight quarterly…