National Average Price for Regular Unleaded Current: $2.456; Month Ago: $2.261; Year Ago: $2.458. National Average Price for Diesel Current: $2.677; Month Ago: $2.569; Year Ago: $2.930

“For the first time since March and April truck tonnage contracted for two consecutive months,” said ATA Chief Economist Bob Costello. “Tonnage fell 1.8% in November, bringing the two-month total decrease to 2.9%, pushing tonnage to its lowest level since January 2024. Sluggishness in factory output continues to weigh on freight volumes, but another drag on the index has been fleet growth at private carriers, which is holding back how much freight is flowing to for-hire carriers.” In December, the ATA advanced seasonally adjusted For-Hire Truck Tonnage Index equaled 111.3 compared with 112.6 in November. The index, which is based on 2015 as 100, was down 3.2% from the same month last year. The not seasonally adjusted index, which calculates raw changes in tonnage hauled, equaled 108.8 in December, 0.9% below November. The seasonally adjusted decrease follows a sequential 1.8% drop in November, which was revised up from the December 24 press release.

Futures in New York increased 0.6 percent after a 1.9 percent drop on Tuesday. U.S. crude inventories rose 3.43 million barrels last week, the American Petroleum Institute was said to report. That compares with a 1.23 million-barrel gain in a Bloomberg poll of analysts ahead of Wednesday’s government data. The oil market has priced in a more than 50 percent probability that the U.S. will sanction Iran, according to Standard Chartered Plc. If the API’s stockpiles data is reflected in the government announcement, it would be the biggest build since early March. The industry body was also said to show crude inventories in the American oil-storage hub of Cushing, Oklahoma, rose by 725,000 barrels last week. Gasoline stocks increased by 1.6 million barrels while distillates declined 4.08 million. Click Read More below for additional information.