What's up, drivers. Welcome to The Freight Insider — your weekly rundown of everything moving in trucking, freight, and the factoring world. I'm here to give you the signal without the noise so you can make smarter decisions out on the road. Let's get into it.

The Big Story: Diesel's Brutal March

Alright, if you filled up this week, you already felt this one. Diesel just ripped past five-thirty-seven a gallon — and that's a national average, meaning plenty of you are paying north of six bucks depending on where you're fueling.

What's driving it? Middle East tensions. Brent crude jumped 13% after port operations near the Strait of Hormuz got suspended. About 20% of the world's oil moves through that corridor, and until things stabilize over there, expect fuel prices to stay volatile.

Here's what this means for you: if you're an owner-operator running on tight margins, now — not next month, now — is the time to renegotiate your fuel surcharge agreements. Carriers who locked in contract rates without solid fuel escalators are getting absolutely crushed right now. And if you're picking your own lanes, tighten that up. Every deadhead mile hurts twice as much at these fuel prices.

Rate Watch

Some good news on the rate side. Spot rates posted their seventh straight monthly gain. Van rates are at $2.65/mile nationally, up $0.24 from February. Flatbeds hit $2.94. Reefers sitting at $2.88.

If you're running the Midwest, that's your money lane right now — $2.77 for vans, $3.14 for flatbed. Load-to-truck ratios topped 60:1 in late February, which is the tightest we've seen since mid-2022.

The catch? Rates are climbing, but so are your costs. Diesel is eating into those gains. Keep a close eye on your actual per-mile profit, not just the top-line rate.

Factoring & Cash Flow Corner

With diesel costs spiking like this, cash flow is tighter than ever for a lot of carriers, and that means more of you are looking at factoring to bridge the gap. Nothing wrong with that — but this is exactly the kind of market where carriers get locked into bad contracts because they're in a rush.

Here's what I want you to watch for right now. When the market gets tight, some factoring companies start quietly tightening their terms — higher reserve holdbacks, longer release times on reserves, or adding fees that weren't in your original agreement. If you signed a factoring contract more than six months ago, pull it out and re-read it. Specifically look at your reserve percentage, your contract length and auto-renewal terms, and whether you're on recourse or non-recourse.

I'm not here to tell you who to factor with. I'm here to make sure you understand what you're signing. If you want a straight-up, no-BS breakdown of what to look for in a factoring agreement, head over to our factoring company comparison or check out Factoring 101.

Regulatory Radar

Big compliance heads-up. FMCSA yanked 14 ELDs off the approved list on March 4th — including Club ELD, SAFERLOGS, and ClearPath. The replacement deadline was March 15th, so if you're still running one of those devices, you are looking at out-of-service violations at your next inspection. Don't gamble on this one. Check your device against the FMCSA registered list today.

Also worth watching: FMCSA just recruited 18 drivers for upcoming hours-of-service pilot programs. We might see HOS changes down the road — I'll keep you posted as that develops.

Quick Hits

The bankruptcy wave isn't over. STG Logistics, Newkirk, Mast Trucking, and Bee & G Enterprises all filed in early 2026. ACT Research is projecting major declines in equipment demand this year. Analysts are calling for one more shakeout before the market rebalances.

AI is eating the back office. C.H. Robinson says its AI agents have handled over 3 million shipping tasks. And smart trucking software using computer vision is actually cutting insurance premiums by predicting collisions. The real AI money isn't in self-driving trucks — it's in the stuff that saves you time and money behind the scenes.

Freight volumes are still soft. LTL volumes dropped nearly 5% in February even though manufacturing numbers are improving. Retailers are burning through existing inventory instead of ordering new freight. Until consumer spending picks up, expect that disconnect to continue.

The Bottom Line

Rates are up, but diesel is eating your margins alive. The carriers who come out ahead are the ones renegotiating fuel terms right now. Watch that Hormuz situation — if it gets worse, six-dollar diesel is on the table. Check your ELD against the approved list before your next inspection. And if you're shopping for factoring or renegotiating your current contract, make sure you know exactly what you're agreeing to.

Until next time — keep the rubber side down.