INDUSTRY FUEL IMPACT REPORT
Fuel and Transport Cost Tracker
Diesel moves, margins follow. This tracker surfaces fuel cost shifts before they hit your bottom line — whether you’re a carrier watching cost-per-mile, a broker managing rate expectations, or a shipper protecting acquisition margins.
How Rising Fuel Costs Are Changing the Price of Moving Cars
June 12, 2026 Update
Diesel prices have continued to ease from their early-May peak, with the national retail average falling to $5.21 per gallon for the week of June 8, down more than 40 cents from the $5.64 high reached in early May, but still well above $2.00 higher than a year ago. Crude oil markets moved sharply lower this week: Brent crude dropped toward $88 per barrel after President Trump signaled a U.S.-Iran peace agreement could be signed as early as this weekend, with reports of a 14-point draft deal that includes reopening the Strait of Hormuz within 30 days. Even so, Brent remains roughly 30% above pre-conflict levels, and traders remain cautious. A deal still requires approval from Iranian authorities, and clearing the strait of mines and restarting idled production fields will take time.
On the ground, auto transport prices have pulled back from their June 7 spike but remain elevated: the daily average price per mile stands at $1.06, with the seven-day weighted volume average at $1.08. Whether you’re a carrier setting rates or a shipper planning your next move, the data is clear: price to today’s reality. Use this tracker to stay current.
Key Data Points:
Auto transport prices recently spiked to $1.20 per mile on June 7 before retreating. The daily average now sits at $1.06, with the seven-day weighted volume average at $1.08. That’s still roughly 26% above the $0.84 pre-conflict baseline, reflecting sustained fuel cost pressure even as diesel pulls back from its highs.
The national average for on-highway diesel fell to $5.21 per gallon for the week of June 8, the latest in a string of weekly declines from the early-May peak above $5.64 per gallon, but still more than $2.00 higher than a year ago
The EIA’s June 2026 Short-Term Energy Outlook assumes the Strait of Hormuz does not return to pre-conflict traffic levels until early 2027, even under a scenario where it formally reopens in Q3. OECD oil inventories are projected to hit their lowest level since 2003 by year-end. Meaning diesel costs are potentially unlikely to return to pre-conflict levels anytime soon.
Auto Transport Costs Are Up 26% From Pre-Conflict Levels
Auto transport prices recently surged to $1.20 per mile on June 7 before pulling back over the past week. The daily average now stands at $1.06, with the seven-day weighted volume average at $1.08, down from the June 7 spike but still well above the $0.84 pre-conflict baseline. The roughly 26% increase from pre-conflict levels reflects both the sustained pressure of elevated diesel costs and carriers repricing loads to recover margin lost during the initial fuel shock. The retreat from $1.20 suggests the market found a short-term ceiling, but any delay in Hormuz normalization could push prices higher again.
Last Updated: June 12, 2026
How Fuel Prices Flow Through to Auto Transport Costs
What the data also shows is a meaningful gap between how much diesel has risen and how much transport pricing has moved. Diesel is up approximately 37–46% from pre-conflict levels. Auto transport pricing has not moved proportionally, but that’s expected. We can do some simple math to see what price movement we expect from carriers.
| Costs | Percent |
|---|---|
| Fuel | 25% |
| Other Costs** | 61% |
| Profit Margin | 14% |
**Other Costs include: Driver wages, truck payments, insurance, maintenance, permits, tolls
If a carrier wanted to maintain $14 of profit for every $100 of load moved, here’s how they would have to raise their prices as the price of fuel increased:
| Fuel Price Increase | 0% | 20% | 40% | 50% |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Load Price | $100 | $105 | $110 | $113 |
| Fuel | $25 | $30 | $35 | $38 |
| Other Costs | $61 | $61 | $61 | $61 |
| Profit | $14 | $14 | $14 | $14 |
| % Increase in Load Price | 0% | 5% | 10% | 13% |
Since the start of the conflict, our data shows auto transport load prices rose approximately 11% from around $0.84 to roughly $0.95 per mile before stabilizing in that range. When diesel climbs 50%, carriers would need to raise prices 13% to maintain their profits. So the data says carriers not passing on all their increased fuel costs to shippers.
This differs from what we saw before. When diesel prices rose 45%, we saw carriers raise their load pricing to cover all their fuel cost increases. The fact that load prices have plateaued suggests the market has found a temporary ceiling and carriers are sharing in the pain. Howver, that could shift quickly if fuel costs continue to climb. We update this tracker regularly, so check back often.
This Disruption Has a Longer Tail Than Past Spikes
The Strait of Hormuz carries approximately 20 million barrels per day, roughly 20% of global maritime oil trade, and its closure has been described as the largest energy supply disruption since the 1970s. Analysts estimate three to four months for Gulf production to fully restore, with the oil price floor unlikely to return to pre-conflict levels. The IEA’s emergency release of 400 million barrels, the largest in history, provided temporary relief but did not reverse the underlying supply picture.
The current pricing environment is not a spike with a clear near-term resolution.
What This Means for Your Operation
Dealers and auctions: Build a transport cost buffer into your acquisition math now. Units sourced today will be delivered into a higher-cost environment than what you underwrote at purchase.
Fleets and leasing: Loads quoted before February 28 are being re-priced across the industry. This is diesel economics, not carrier opportunism. Build flexibility into Q2 transport agreements.
Brokers: When diesel moves this fast, all-in rate models create real margin compression. Pricing Insights pulls from real accepted-offer data so you’re quoting from what lanes are clearing today, not January.
Tools to Help You Navigate This
Our Pricing Insights tool pulls current market rate data by lane from real accepted offers on the Super Dispatch platform. When prices are moving fast, quoting from live data is the difference between competitive and underwater.
Super Dispatch will soon be offering carriers access to fuel savings that directly offset pump costs through our upcoming SuperCard! When your carriers’ margins are healthier, your loads move faster and more reliably. Click below to let us know you’re interested to get early access!
About This Data
Transport pricing data shown represents a normalized subset of orders processed through the Super Dispatch platform. Filters applied: single-VIN orders; 500–1,000 mile moves; operable SUVs; and order status is picked up or delivered. Dates reflect date that the carrier and shipper agreed to pricing. This subset is statistically meaningful in size and is designed to isolate comparable moves for consistent trend analysis. It does not represent the Super Dispatch marketplace in aggregate.