Consumer inflation rose in March due to surging fuel prices. However, the volume of goods being shipped right now is slightly higher than it was a few months ago. Rates are rising faster than demand, though, and that could dampen the momentum.
Meanwhile, small trucking companies are still going out of business, and the number of larger carriers continues to rise. And then there are the parcel and fulfillment surcharges, which are adding another layer of costs for small businesses already dealing with tariffs.
Continue reading to find out more about the latest developments across the freight world.
Gas Prices Send Inflation Higher and Consumer Mood to Record Low
Inflation picked up sharply in March, with the Consumer Price Index rising 0.9% month over month and 3.3% year over year. Gasoline was the main culprit as pump prices rose 21.2%, nearly three-quarters of the monthly rise. That pressure hit consumers quickly. In April, the consumer sentiment index fell from 53.3 in March to 47.6. That’s the lowest level since the University of Michigan began tracking it in 1952.
Core inflation stayed pretty low at 0.2%, suggesting the broader effects are still limited for now. But economists still say that a prolonged disruption in the Strait of Hormuz could raise costs far beyond fuel, affecting food, housing, medical care, and transportation.
Volumes Show Recovery as Capacity Tightens and Rates Keep Climbing
March Cass data shows that the freight market may be turning, even though demand hasn’t fully recovered yet. Shipments went up 3% from February, or 1% when adjusted for the season. The year-over-year drop, on the other hand, was only 4.5%, the smallest drop since June. Freight costs rose 4.2% from a year ago and 4.9% from the month before.
Cass said that tightness in dry vans is starting to spread to other modes, and if manufacturing growth stays strong, LTL may not be far behind. The report also said it was harder to find drivers after the new non-domiciled CDL rules took effect. That matters because when capacity gets tighter, carriers usually have more room to raise rates.
Small Carriers Keep Failing as Cost Pressure Outlasts Freight Slump
A new wave of bankruptcy filings shows that many small trucking and logistics companies in the U.S. are still struggling, even as larger carriers seem to be getting back on their feet. The most recent cases involve companies from single-truck operators to regional carriers with a few dozen tractors.
NV Freight, which has about 52 tractors, filed for Chapter 11 because it owed up to $10 million. In 2024, NAS Logistics drove more than 2.6 million miles, but had much fewer assets and still fell within the same upper liability range. Liberty Carriers also filed for Chapter 11, and Golden Spirit Freight filed for Chapter 7. It is easy to see the pattern: when demand is spotty and borrowing costs are high, smaller fleets are the first to break.
Fuel Surcharges Become Second Cost Shock for Small Shippers
Fuel surcharges are complicating operations for small businesses in the U.S. on top of the tariffs they already have to deal with. By March 30, the price of diesel had risen 39% from the beginning of the month and 50% from the same time last year, reaching $5 a gallon.
Parcel carriers are moving fast, though. FedEx raised its domestic ground fuel surcharge to 26.5%, and UPS raised its to 27%, while the U.S. Postal Service said prices would increase by 8% for a short time starting April 26. Amazon also charged a 3.5% fulfillment fee, averaging about 17 cents per shipment to the U.S.
The problem for smaller businesses is scale. Big shippers get better deals than small shippers. But that means companies like Ash & Erie, Amberjack, and Caraway have to protect their already-thin margins without pushing customers who care about price too far.
Carrier Growth Returns, But Trucking Employment Still Tells Harder Story
In the first quarter of 2026, the U.S. trucking industry saw a small improvement, with more new operating authorities and reinstatements than revocations. That meant Q1 was the first quarter since Q2 2025 to have more carriers come in than leave, and only the third such quarter since 2022. Revocations also fell to their lowest level since late 2021, which could signal that the long freight downturn is easing.
However, the labor side still looks weaker than the authority data might suggest. In January, seasonally adjusted employment was 496,500, the lowest level since February 2014. So, while the number of carriers may be stabilizing, staffing data shows that the market is still recovering on shaky ground.
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