FedEx Express, FedEx Ground and FedEx Freight will increase shipping rates beginning January 4, 2021. These rate changes enable FedEx to continue investing in service enhancement, fleet maintenance, technology innovations and other areas to serve customers more effectively and efficiently. FedEx Express shipping rates will increase by an average of 4.9% for U.S. domestic, U.S. export and U.S. import services. FedEx Ground and FedEx Home Delivery shipping rates will increase by an average of 4.9%. FedEx SmartPost shipping rates will also increase. FedEx Freight shipping rates will increase by an average of 4.9% for customers who use FXF PZONE and FXF EZONE, and by 5.9% for customers who use FXF 1000 and FXF 501 for shipments within the U.S. (including Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands) and between the contiguous U.S. and Canada. FedEx Freight shipping rates will also increase for shipments within Canada, within Mexico, and between the contiguous U.S. and Mexico. Details of all changes to rates, surcharges and fees are available on the FedEx website at: http://fedex.com/rates2021.

Trucking activity in the United States slipped in March, giving back a little more than half of the gain from February. Specifically, truck freight tonnage decreased 1.5% after surging 2.8% in February, according to the American Trucking Associations’ advanced seasonally adjusted For-Hire Truck Tonnage Index. Solid manufacturing output in March, led by robust auto production, likely helped truck freight tonnage not fall more after a very strong February,” said ATA Chief Economist Bob Costello. “Overall in the first quarter, tonnage increased marginally from both the fourth and first quarters of 2024. While the gains were not strong at half a percent and less, it was the first time that the quarterly average increased both sequentially and from a year earlier in two years. That tells me that the freight market did in fact turn around in the first three months of the year despite an uncertain outlook.” In March, the ATA advanced seasonally adjusted For-Hire Truck Tonnage Index equaled 113.4, down from 115.1 in February. The index, which is based on 2015 as 100, was up 0.2% from the same month last year, the third straight year-over-year increase, which hasn’t happened since late 2022 and early 2023. The not seasonally adjusted index, which calculates raw changes in tonnage hauled, equaled 114.6 in March, 9.5% above February’s reading of 104.7.

National Average Price for Regular Unleaded Current: $3.066; Month Ago: $3.011; Year Ago: $3.078. National Average Price for Diesel Current: $3.543; Month Ago: $3.514; Year Ago: $3.947.