Spotlight
Soaring diesel puts fuel surcharges in spotlight
The US truckload market may have become less volatile in recent weeks, but diesel prices that have climbed to a national average of $ 6.53 per gallon as of Sept. 21, according to federal data, are changing the cost equation for shippers even as freight demand remains relatively stable. The immediate impact is showing up in fuel surcharges, rather than a new surge in underlying freight demand, according to Mike Regan, chief relationship officer at TranzAct Technologies. Regan estimates that higher fuel costs have increased truckload costs by roughly 25 % to 30 % and the total cost of a less-than-truckload shipment by approximately 20 % since the beginning of the year. The rapid increase in diesel does not necessarily mean established carriers will immediately park trucks, Regan said, because trucking companies with contractual fuel surcharge mechanisms can pass much of the higher expense through to customers. That distinguishes many contract carriers from smaller operators dependent on the spot market, where recovering sudden fuel increases can be more difficult. The $ 6.53 per gallon national average diesel fuel price published by the US Energy Information Administration( EIA) was up more than 24 cents from the previous week and $ 2.78 higher than in the same week last year.
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Carriers scale back Golden Week blanks
Shippers are so far seeing fewer blank sailings on trans-Pacific and Asia – Europe services for China’ s Golden Week holiday that started Oct. 1 compared with the previous three years, according to data from online benchmarking platform Xeneta. As of the time of writing, just under 13 % of the total planned capacity in October was scheduled to be blanked on services from Asia to the US and Europe, compared with nearly 18 % on trans-Pacific and 21 % on Asia – Europe services last year, according to data from Xeneta subsidiary eeSea commissioned by the Journal of Commerce. Data for earlier years shows 18 % of pro-forma capacity was blanked on trans-Pacific services and 14 % on the Asia – Europe trade for Golden Week in 2024, while 24 % of capacity was canceled on both trades during the 2023 holiday. Xeneta data also shows a reduction in the number of actual blanked sailings compared with previous years.
On Far East – North America loops, 48 blanked sailings were scheduled for October, while previous years sat between 62 and 73, said Destine Ozuygur, Xeneta’ s senior market analyst for liner network performance. For Asia – Europe, Ozuygur said Xeneta had confirmed 23 total blanks, down from between 31 and 39 in recent years. To be sure, the fewer blanks, particularly on the trans-Pacific, is an indication of the market strength observers have noted in recent weeks, with the National Retail Federation saying September could be the busiest month for US imports.
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STB member unconvinced on UP-NS merger
The newest member of the US Surface Transportation Board( STB) has indicated he has serious concerns over what he said were deficiencies in Union Pacific Railroad’ s( UP) application to acquire Norfolk Southern Railway( NS). But Richard Kloster said he can still be convinced to vote for the $ 85 billion deal as the exhaustive regulatory review unfolds. In a separate, concurring opinion, Kloster in September joined the STB’ s unanimous decision rejecting motions that sought an immediate denial of the proposed merger. That allows the STB review to proceed into its next, more exhaustive phase. At the same time, Kloster criticized UP and NS, saying they have failed to explain in sufficient detail how they would address significant concerns raised over the deal. The STB’ s decision handed UP and NS a procedural victory, but Kloster’ s opinion made it clear that he would not rubber-stamp the merger. BNSF Railway, one of the competitors whose motions the STB denied, seized on that distinction.“ It was recognized within the decision
6 Journal of Commerce | October 5, 2026 www. joc. com