Fuel costs are possibly one of the most misunderstood items in transportation. Its impact on carriers is uneven and more nuanced than most expect.
Super Dispatch has released new data from its Fuel and Transport Cost Tracker detailing the impact of rising diesel prices on carriers, brokers and shippers.
Rising fuel prices and shrinking carrier capacity are driving a rapid increase in shipper spending.
The price of fuel has spiked over the past month, but this does not always mean higher rates.
The Diesel Truck Liberation Act, introduced by Rep. Mike Collins, aims to lower equipment costs for truckers.
Diesel prices have spiked to $5.96 per gallon in premium markets as escalating Middle East tensions collide with America’s crumbling refinery base. The surge comes at a critical inflection point for trucking, with tender rejection rates climbing and capacity tightening after a brutal four-year freight recession, raising questions about whether the industry can capitalize on the recovery when fuel costs threaten to erase margin gains.
Wholesale diesel prices jumped more than 30% last week, while retail diesel prices increased more than 14%. The rapid pace of these changes has potentially negative implications for both shippers and carriers.
America sits on more oil than it can refine. While the Strait of Hormuz burns, the real chokepoint is between the wellhead and the truck stop.
What’s going to happen to the Clean Truck Partnership is a battle that’s spilling out into the open.
Nikola’s bankruptcy is a reality check for the push toward zero-emission freight. Once hailed as the Tesla of trucking, Nikola’s failure highlights the immense challenges of replacing diesel with electric and hydrogen-powered alternatives. While policymakers and environmental advocates push for green energy solutions, the trucking industry remains bound by the need for reliability, infrastructure, and economic viability. With limited charging and hydrogen refueling networks, high costs, and performance struggles, Nikola’s downfall reinforces a hard truth, diesel isn’t going anywhere anytime soon.
Love’s Travel Stops built a new travel center in California even as diesel was targeted for phase-out; now that’s not an issue.
The supply/demand outlook for oil increasingly points to downward pressure on oil prices next year, as does greater use of electric vehicles.
Operating cost inflation is largely hidden, but fuel costs help explain why the domestic truckload market is headed for a turn.
Canadian transport and logistics provider TFI International plans to spin off Daseke as a separate company sometime in 2025.
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U.S. diesel exports to South America’s west coast are heavily exposed to Panama Canal delays. Tanker rates have skyrocketed.
The transportation sector is actively looking for ways to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. This has created increased demand for cleaner, more innovative fuel sources, like renewable diesel.
Diesel is an essential fuel for the global economy. The world’s second-largest seaborne supplier, Russia, just halted exports.
