Freight Intel Report market data
Where freight pricing pressure is building.
A disciplined view of pricing pressure across truck inputs, rail, barge and ocean freight—showing what changed, how fresh the signal is and what transportation decision-makers should watch next.
Current public-market signals
The public data do not support one universal freight “spot rate.” FIR therefore separates each mode, unit and coverage universe instead of forcing unlike markets into a misleading composite.
U.S. average retail on-highway diesel rose 3.7% from the prior week and 46.9% from a year earlier. This is a major truck operating-cost input—not a national truckload spot rate.
Average August bids and offers above tariff: $150 per car for shuttle service and $50 per car for non-shuttle service. These are premiums to tariff—not total rail rates.
Illinois River grain-barge cost index, with 2017 equal to 100. It is an inland-grain proxy—not a universal waterway rate or the separate percent-of-tariff series.
U.S. Gulf-to-Japan and Pacific Northwest-to-Japan bulk-grain rates, respectively, in dollars per metric ton.
Monthly producer-price context
| Transportation service | Year-over-year | Coverage note |
|---|---|---|
| Truck freight | +10.9% | −1.8% month over month |
| Rail | +1.3% | Mode-wide PPI |
| Water | +17.2% | Mode-wide PPI |
| Air transportation | +7.1% | Not cargo-only |
| Freight arrangement | +2.2% | Broker/arranger proxy |
Two-week cost-index movement
USDA multimodal grain-transportation indices show divergent pressure between August 5 and August 19: the barge proxy eased while Gulf vessel, rail and truck inputs increased. These series share a 2017 base of 100, but each measures a different market proxy.
Change from August 5 to August 19, 2026
| Mode proxy | Aug. 5 | Aug. 19 | Two-week change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Truck input | 202.00 | 206.00 | +2.0% |
| Rail shuttle | 122.00 | 125.00 | +2.5% |
| Barge | 230.26 | 211.61 | −8.1% |
| Gulf vessel | 176.71 | 184.97 | +4.7% |
| Pacific vessel | 172.21 | 173.40 | +0.7% |
FIR decision read
Mode coverage and publishing status
FIR expands only when a benchmark is authoritative, attributable, reproducible and lawful to publish. A missing number is better than fabricated precision.
Methodology, cadence and sources
Update protocol: FIR reviews authoritative releases throughout the week and updates this page when a source publishes. Each value retains its own observation date; FIR will never make an older series look current by changing only the page date.
Comparison fields: Where the source supports them, each mode will show the current benchmark, weekly or release-over-release change, four-week direction, year-over-year change, volatility, source date and the operational implication. Fields remain blank when the underlying data cannot support a defensible comparison.
Primary public sources: USDA Grain Transportation Cost Indicators, USDA Grain Transportation Report, August 20, 2026, U.S. Energy Information Administration diesel prices, BTS/BLS Transportation Producer Price Index and Surface Transportation Board rail-service data.
The USDA index series use 2017 as the base year. Truck represents national diesel prices; rail combines near-month secondary-market values with selected shuttle tariffs and fuel surcharges; barge uses Illinois River rates; and ocean uses Gulf- and Pacific Northwest-to-Japan bulk-grain rates. The BTS/BLS PPI measures average changes in seller prices for broad transportation-service universes; current July values are preliminary. These are useful directional benchmarks, but they are not quotes for every commodity, lane, equipment type or shipper.
Editorial rule: FIR will publish only data it can attribute, date and explain. Commercial indices will not be copied, scraped or redistributed without appropriate rights.
Turn the signal into a decision
Freight Intel Report pairs this monitor with concise analysis when a rate movement carries meaningful operational or financial consequences. Subscribe for the update, the context and the action—not another undated rate screenshot.
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