Weekly Market Intelligence: Week of September 28, 2026

EIA's diesel survey for the week ending 9/28 printed $6.382 per gallon, down 14.7 cents and the first decline since 8/31. But DAT's print still carried the record 9/21 diesel number in its fuel component, so all-in rates rose while the part you actually negotiate, linehaul, was flat or negative in every mode.

• $6.382U.S. diesel, $/gal (EIA, week ending 9/28; down 14.7¢)
• $3.63Reefer all-in $/mi (linehaul $2.71, down 2¢)
• $3.01Dry van all-in $/mi (linehaul $2.17, unchanged)
• $3.60Flatbed all-in $/mi (linehaul $2.59, down 1¢)

Three takeaways

• Your fuel table now over-recovers. The illustrative truckload surcharge fell from 54.3 to 52.0 cents per mile. A table still set to the 9/21 record over-charges 2.3 cents per mile, and a monthly reset at the September peak over-charges all of October.
• Do not renew off the 9/26 all-in. All three modes' all-in rates rose 4 to 5 cents on a fuel number that reversed two days later. Split the quote before you sign.
• Tightness is easing, not gone. National tender rejections eased to 12.54% from a summer peak near 18%, but remain well above 2024 and 2025. The leverage window is opening for shippers on truckload and closing on LTL, where Old Dominion's 4.9% GRI goes live October 5.

Inside the 11-page package

Executive summary · Reefer · LTL · Dry van · Flatbed · EDI tender decline report · Fuel surcharge report, all modes · Diesel cost by PADD (regional) · Reefer rate and reefer ROTRI 13-week comparisons.

Data sources include DAT Freight & Analytics, U.S. EIA, and the Cass Freight Index; full citations are in the PDF. The EDI tender decline section is illustrative, and some historical comparisons are analyst estimates, labeled as such in the report.

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