U.S. truck costs spike

U.S. truckload spot prices jumped in early April, with DAT showing national van rates near $2.50 a mile and flatbed rates closer to $2.97 a mile, both including fuel surcharges. (dat.com 1) (dat.com 2) DAT says its national averages are based on lanes of 250 miles or more and are drawn from DAT RateView, which uses a database built from about $1 trillion in freight invoices. That makes the move notable because it reflects paid freight, not just asking prices on a load board. (dat.com 1) (dat.com 2) Fuel is one reason carriers can push rates higher. The U.S. Energy Information Administration put the national average retail diesel price at $3.594 a gallon for the week ending April 7, 2026, with California at $4.870 and the West Coast average at $4.310. (eia.gov 1) (eia.gov 2) Freight spending was already rising before this week’s spot-market jump. Cass Information Systems said its freight expenditures index rose 4.2% from a year earlier in March 2026, helped by a month-to-month improvement in shipments. (cassinfo.com) Capacity has also been thinning. FreightWaves reported in February 2026 that trucking capacity had been exiting the market for the past couple of years as fleets closed or cut trucks, which leaves fewer carriers available when demand firms. (freightwaves.com) That squeeze has been building in industry data. FreightWaves reported in January that a new U.S. Bank and DAT report found shrinking carrier capacity and volatile fuel surcharges were setting up the market for faster rate increases if freight demand rebounded. (freightwaves.com) The labor picture is more complicated than a simple driver shortage. In October 2025, American Trucking Associations Chief Economist Bob Costello said the issue was a shortage of qualified drivers even while too many drivers were chasing too little freight in parts of the market. (ccjdigital.com) Regulation is part of the cost backdrop as well. California Air Resources Board guidance lists active compliance deadlines for programs including Clean Truck Check, transport refrigeration rules, and other zero-emission trucking requirements that can raise equipment and operating costs for fleets serving that market. (ww2.arb.ca.gov) Not every widely discussed federal rule is adding new costs right now. The Federal Register shows the proposed federal speed-limiter rule was withdrawn on July 24, 2025, removing one pending mandate even as other state and equipment rules remain in force. (federalregister.gov) For shippers, the immediate effect is simple: when diesel stays elevated and available trucks get scarcer, the price to move a load can rise quickly from one week to the next. (eia.gov) (freightwaves.com)