Freight demand rose nearly 5% week over week, tender rejections are near 13%, and spot rates are still climbing.
Demand up, capacity tightening
- Nearly 5%: weekly freight demand gain, giving carriers more loads to choose from.
- Near 13%: tender rejection rate, meaning more contract freight is spilling into the spot market.
- Van contract and spot rates are both rising, a good moment to push for stronger linehaul offers.
- Flatbed and LTL conditions were also tracked, with spot markets strengthening in some areas.
Source: FreightWaves: Freight Demand Jumps 5% as Spot Rates Climb
Diesel slips, still up for month
- $6.292 per gallon: U.S. average retail diesel for the week of 2026-11-02.
- Down 6.0 cents (0.9%) from the prior week, a small break at the pump.
- Up 9.3 cents over four weeks, so fuel surcharges still matter in rate talks.
Source: EIA: Weekly U.S. diesel price, week of 2026-11-02
Congress clock runs out Jan. 3
- Noon, Jan. 3, 2027: any trucking bill not passed by both chambers and sent to the president dies.
- Election results shifted the political math, with Democrats winning control, changing odds for pending trucking legislation.
- Unfinished bills would restart next Congress with new numbers and new committee chairs.
Source: FreightWaves: What trucking can still get from a lame-duck Congress before Jan. 3
$11.4M load vanishes in transit
- $11.4 million: reported value of NVIDIA hardware that disappeared between California and Texas.
- Oakland police are investigating it as grand theft; the carrier's identity remains unclear.
- High-value electronics remain a top theft target, so vetting and load security deserve extra attention.
Source: FreightWaves: $11.4 million in NVIDIA hardware vanishes during shipment from California to Texas
West Coast ports: strike delayed
- LA-Long Beach terminal watchmen and employers pushed back a strike deadline as contract talks continue.
- A walkout could still disrupt drayage and container flow out of the nation's busiest port complex.
- 343%: rise in Asia-U.S. West Coast container spot rates since the Iran war began, per Xeneta.
Source: FreightWaves: Strike at Los Angeles-Long Beach port delayed as union contract talks continue · FreightWaves: Asia-U.S. West Coast ocean container spot rates up 343% since start of Iran war, says Xeneta
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