Trucking Rates

November’s TVI dry van freight reading—at 197—fell 18% compared to October, while falling 12% annually. The November refrigerated (reefer) TVI—at 172—was down 11% sequentially and off 6.0% annually. And the flatbed TVI—at 243—was down 22% sequentially and posted a 3% annual gain.   

With a 9.9-cent increase, the national average price per gallon came in at $3.718 per gallon.

Load posts on DAT One rose 2% to 2.26 million last week, while truck posts fell for the second consecutive week, down 5% to 232,703.

Prior to the White House’s proclamation being issued, Dan Moyer, senior analyst, commercial vehicles, at freight transportation consultancy FTR, said that this development had rattled fleets, OEMs, and suppliers coping with weak demand, rising costs, and fragile supply chains.

For August, the most recent month for which data is available, the TCI reading, at 0.3, marked an improvement over July’s -1.03, with FTR calling August’s reading “neutral.” The July TCI reading fared better than June’s -1,83, the lowest in 2025.

For July, the most recent month for which data is available, the TCI reading came in at -1.03, faring better than June’s -1.83 reading, the lowest in 2025, with the firm noting that the TCI improved despite all freight-related factors coming in lower than in June.

For May, the most recent month for which data is available, the TCI came in at 3.56, its best reading going back to February 2022, well above April’s -0.81 and March’s 0.28 readings.

The June shipments reading, at 1.052, fell 2.4% annually and was off 0.2% sequentially, and June expenditures, at 3.273, increased 2.6% annually and were down 1.2% compared to May.

A combination of factors is having what could be viewed as a negative impact, when it comes to transportation and logistics (T&L) mergers and acquisition (M&A) activity. That was the primary thesis of a new report issued today by business consultancy PwC, entitled “Transportation & Logistics: US Deals 2025 Midyear Outlook.”

For March, the most recent month for which data is available, the SCI came in at 0.1, which FTR said was, “basically neutral territory,” following a -0.3 February reading.

For March the most recent month for which data is available, the TCI reading rose to 0.28, following a -0.21 February reading, which marked an improvement over January’s -2.56 reading, and nearly erased all of the growth seen in December, which posted a 2.67 reading.

Following a mixed March, spot truckload volumes and rates were again mixed in April, according to the new edition of the DAT Truckload Index, which was issued today by DAT Freight and Analytics.

In this podcast, LM Group News Editor Jeff Berman interviewed Scooter Sayers, Business Development Director–LTL Solutions at Cubiscan, a leader in freight dimensioning solutions, and principal of Sayers Logistics LLC, an LTL transportation consultancy, delivering LTL solutions by working with shippers, carriers, trade organizations, 3PLs, and technology providers to help move the LTL industry forward.

The firm said that spot load posts for the week were up 10.8% sequentially, coming in at 2.25 million, which helped to counter declines seen in previous weeks, as well as signaling high seasonality with retail goods and produce on the move.

Logistics Management Group News Editor Jeff Berman recently spoke with Doug Waggoner, CEO of Chicago-based Echo Global Logistics about various topics, including: the state of the freight economy, tariffs and the trade war, trucking capacity, and AI, among others.