Diesel Hits 3‑Year Low: What It Means for Mid‑Sized Shippers

Diesel prices have reached their lowest point since fall 2021, with the DOE/EIA national average falling to $3.451 per gallon. For midsize shippers moving FTL freight across the U.S., this presents a rare opportunity to reduce freight costs. With fuel surcharges dropping and carriers adjusting pricing, now is the time to re-evaluate your transportation spend.

Using Portex, shippers can respond dynamically – adjusting rates, tracking cost-per-mile changes, and acting on real-time trends without waiting for a traditional bid cycle. The result: better cost control and a faster path to savings.

Market Snapshot: What’s Driving the Drop

Diesel Falls to 3-Year Low

According to FreightWaves, the Department of Energy/EIA benchmark diesel price recently dropped to $3.451/gal – the lowest level since September 2021. This decline follows sustained pressure from weak freight demand, soft macroeconomic indicators, and improved fuel efficiency across equipment.

Factors Behind the Trend

• Muted freight demand: Currently, overall freight volumes have not recovered to pandemic-era highs, leaving capacity loose and diesel consumption lower.
  
  
• Increased efficiency: Fleets are running more efficiently, with modern tractors delivering better fuel mileage and longer maintenance intervals.
  
  
• Stable refining output: Refineries have maintained steady diesel production, contributing to stable or falling prices despite recent increased geopolitical risk.
  
  

Why This Matters for Midsize Shippers

Midsize shippers are in a strong position to benefit. Here’s how low diesel translates into strategic opportunity.

Reduced Fuel Surcharges

Most carrier contracts include a variable fuel surcharge pegged to DOE averages. As diesel prices fall, so do surcharge line items. Even a $0.25 drop per gallon can mean thousands in monthly savings across lanes (this is in relation to contracted rates typically, not spot market – unless you have your own FSC – in which case the savings would be automatic, adjusting with the fuel surcharge structure agreed to during quoting/contract agreements.)

Opportunity to Re-Bid Lanes

While many shippers operate on quarterly or annual bid cycles, fast-moving market changes like this create mismatches between contract rates and real-world conditions. Shippers that can re-bid lanes now can capitalize before prices shift again.

BUT avoid re-bidding lanes that are already structured with a FSC, or you could actually drive the base rate up as carriers try and recoup the missing FSC dollars.

Margin Expansion

For midsize manufacturers and distributors operating on tight margins, reduced freight spend flows straight to the bottom line. Lower transportation costs improve landed cost per unit, giving your team flexibility in pricing, inventory strategy, or customer incentives.

How Portex Helps You Move Fast

Portex gives midsize shippers the tools to act on market shifts with speed and precision. It’s designed to simplify freight operations – from quoting and bidding to tracking and analytics – so your team doesn’t have to wait to react.

You can use this data to identify which carriers maintain consistent rates when fuel surcharges fluctuate and which ones frequently reject tenders – helping you distinguish between carriers who take advantage of market swings and those who are reliable partners.

Flexible, On-Demand Re-Bidding

Instead of waiting for the next scheduled RFP, Portex lets you re-bid lanes on demand. You can request new quotes from your preferred carriers or compare market options through the platform – quickly and without long setup times.

Cost-Per-Mile Tracking Over Time

Portex makes it easy to track cost-per-mile data. As diesel prices fluctuate, you can monitor how fuel is affecting your all-in rate structure and compare historical trends to current conditions, including cost per mile on base rates and total rate.

Streamlined Rate Benchmarking

Need to know if a carrier’s revised rate reflects current market conditions? Portex enables benchmarking so you can gauge competitiveness and negotiate from a more informed position.

No Wait, No Complexity

Portex is built for fast onboarding and easy day-to-day use – no complex integrations or long learning curves. Your operations or logistics team can start quoting, bidding, and comparing rates immediately, helping you respond in real time to market changes like this.

What You Can Do Today

1. Re-bid your top lanes: Focus on high-volume, high-cost lanes first. Even small per-mile savings add up fast.
   
   
2. Benchmark current rates: Use Portex to compare your current contract rates against real-time market data.
   
   
3. Track fuel cost impact: Monitor how lower diesel is affecting your cost-per-mile so you can adjust pricing or planning accordingly.
   
   
4. Plan for volatility: Diesel markets remain volatile. Use this potential low point as a window to lock in better terms while they last.
   
   

Move Forward Purposefully

With diesel prices at a 3-year low, midsize shippers have a narrow but meaningful window to review cost structures. If you have flat rates without a fuel surcharge (FSC), this is where you may find real savings. However, re-bidding always carries some risk – rates can shift for reasons beyond fuel.

Use your Portex data to identify where an adjustment makes sense, so you can act confidently without disrupting strong carrier relationships.

Portex is purpose-built to help you move fast: rebid lanes, compare real-time quotes, track trends, and make smarter freight decisions without unnecessary complexity. For shippers, this is a chance to improve margins, increase efficiency, and stay ahead of the curve.

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