National Average Price for Regular Unleaded Current: $3.866; Month Ago: $3.862; Year Ago: $3.698. National Average Price for Diesel Current: $4.549; Month Ago: $4.327; Year Ago: $4.989.

American Trucking Associations’ advanced seasonally adjusted For-Hire Truck Tonnage Index declined 1.2% in April after decreasing 2.2% in March. In April, the index equaled 111.7 (2015=100) compared with 113.1 in March. “The truck freight market remained soft in April as seasonally adjusted volumes fell for the second straight month,” said American Trucking Associations Chief Economist Bob Costello. “With a rebound in freight remaining elusive, it is likely that additional capacity will leave the industry in the face of continued softness in the market.” March’s decrease was revised down slightly from our April 23 press release. Compared with April 2023, the index fell 1.5%, which was the fourteenth straight year-over-year decline. In March, the index was down 1.3% from a year earlier.

The expectation that sanctions will again frustrate Iran’s oil industry and limit global supply has helped to boost prices close to 5% since the announcement. In the past, sanctions against Iran have cut the country’s crude exports by around 1 million barrels a day. But because the European Union and other intentional players have decided to stick with the deal, U.S. sanctions are likely to affect only up to around 350,000 barrels a day, once reinstated within six months’ time, according to analysts at MUFG Bank. The surge in prices this week prompted renewed oil market speculation that Brent could again reach $100 a barrel — a level not seen since before the price crash of late 2014. Click Read More below for additional information.