Oil Jumps 3% — Brent at $107.61, WTI at $103.32

Why did oil prices jump 3% on April 29?

Brent crude for July delivery closed at $107.61 per barrel April 29, up 3%. Benchmark U.S. crude (West Texas Intermediate) gained 3.4% to $103.32 a barrel. Both marks represent the highest settlement since early April and extend a rally that began late last week when Brent crude jumped 2.3% to $101.38 on stalled Iran talks.

The move matters for small fleets because diesel retail prices track crude with a two-to-three-week lag. A $6 jump in Brent over five trading days — from $101.38 on April 27 to $107.61 on April 29 — typically translates to 12 to 18 cents per gallon at the pump by mid-May. For a truck running 2,500 miles per week at 6 mpg, that's an extra $50 to $75 in fuel cost before any fuel-surcharge adjustment kicks in.

What's driving the rally

The April 29 session marks the third consecutive day of gains for both benchmarks. Brent has climbed $6.23 per barrel since April 24. WTI has added $6.15 over the same span. The source material does not specify the catalyst for the April 29 move, but the timing follows last week's diplomatic impasse and coincides with tightening supply expectations in global crude markets.

Crude above $100 per barrel historically pressures spot rates in two directions. Shippers with indexed fuel surcharges pass the cost through, which can stabilize all-in linehaul for contract carriers. Spot-market carriers without surcharge protection see margin compression — the fuel line on the settlement statement climbs faster than the rate per mile they can negotiate on short-notice loads.

The diesel math for a 10-truck fleet

A fleet running ten trucks, each logging 125,000 miles per year at 6 mpg, burns roughly 208,000 gallons annually. A 15-cent-per-gallon diesel increase — the midpoint of the expected passthrough from this week's crude rally — adds $31,200 to the annual fuel bill. Spread across twelve months, that's $2,600 per month, or $260 per truck per month, before any fuel-surcharge recovery.

Fleets with fuel-surcharge clauses tied to the Department of Energy's weekly diesel index will see partial recovery two to four weeks after the crude move shows up in retail diesel. Spot-market operators and those hauling for brokers without surcharge agreements absorb the full increase as a margin hit.

What this means for settlement statements in May

Crude rallies compress margins fastest for owner-operators and small fleets running spot freight without fuel-surcharge protection. If diesel climbs 15 cents per gallon by mid-May and spot rates hold flat — March tonnage posted the strongest year-over-year gain since October 2022, but spot rates have not yet followed volume — a truck running 10,000 miles per month at 6 mpg will see fuel cost rise $250 per month with no offsetting rate increase.

Contract carriers with indexed fuel surcharges will see the cost pass through, but the lag means May settlements absorb the gap. Fleets should review fuel-surcharge language in active contracts now — clauses that reference the DOE index with a two-week lag will recover the April 29 crude move by mid-May, while clauses with monthly averaging or no index tie will leave the fleet exposed.

Brent at $107.61 and WTI at $103.32 put both benchmarks in territory last seen in early April, before a brief pullback mid-month. If crude holds above $105 through the first week of May, retail diesel is likely to test $4.20 per gallon nationally by Memorial Day weekend — up from $4.05 in late April. Small fleets should plan fuel budgets and rate negotiations accordingly.