Trucking news and briefs for Wednesday, Sept. 23, 2026:
- Truck tonnage stumbled in August, following market conditions declining in July.
- New ‘cardless’ fuel transactions from payments provider.
Slight freight tonnage decline in August: ATA
ATA's Truck Tonnage Index has fallen in four of the last five months after big gains were observed to begin the year.ATA
Trucking activity in the United States fell 0.5% in August after a 1.2% decline in July, according to the American Trucking Associations’ advanced seasonally adjusted For-Hire Truck Tonnage Index.
ATA Chief Economist Bob Costello said the trucking “market has certainly flipped this year, but recent tonnage levels confirm this is due to reduced capacity, not robust demand.”
Tonnage has now declined “in four of the last five months,” he added, noting that tonnage “is down 4.3% from the recent peak in March," and is down year-over-year for three of the last four months. "Because of all the supply constraints, however, the market is generally better.”
In August, the ATA advanced seasonally adjusted For-Hire Truck Tonnage Index equaled 112.7, down from 113.3 in July. The index, which is based on 2015 as 100, decreased 1.6% from the same month in 2025, which was worse than July’s 0.7% shortfall.
Year-to-date, compared with the same period in 2025, tonnage is up 1% due to robust year-over-year increases from February through April.
The not seasonally adjusted index, which calculates raw changes in tonnage hauled, equaled 116.1 in August, 0.6% below July’s reading of 116.7.
[Related: Is a real diesel shortage brewing? FTR analysts assess risk]
Market conditions declined for carriers, shippers in July
FTR Transportation Intelligence’s monthly market conditions reports, which lag a month behind, showed that conditions for both trucking companies and shippers declined in July.
FTR’s Trucking Conditions Index for July declined to 12.4 -- a strong reading historically -- after the two most favorable months for carriers ever in May and June. Less upward pressure on freight rates was the main factor in a modest deceleration in market conditions. Partial offsets were tighter capacity and lower financing costs.
“While we still see truck freight market conditions as favorable for carriers during the two-year forecast horizon, the period of extraordinary improvement might be over,” said Avery Vise, FTR’s vice president of trucking. “The biggest wild cards remain whether pressure on foreign truck drivers and other enforcement efforts keep capacity growth in check and whether the buildout of data centers continues at its current pace into next year or beyond. If either of those situations prove to be the case -- and certainly if both do -- trucking conditions could remain robust.”
A major concern, of course, is rising diesel prices. While prices were only starting to climb by the end of July, they have since skyrocketed to all-time highs.
[Related: Diesel surges past $6/gal. nationwide -- $8-$10 on the horizon?]
For much of the market, fortunately, Vise added, diesel's mostly "a pass-along cost," he said. If spot rates soften enough with diesel at record levels, though, truckers could "find themselves with an ample supply of drivers who previously worked for failed small carriers. The result could be akin to the sharp increase in truckload employment in 2022 following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.”
On the shipper side of the equation, the reversal of fuel cost relief in July was primarily responsible for deterioration in FTR’s Shippers Index to -8.1 from June’s -5.4 reading.
More stable freight rates partially offset that unfavorable shift, while the contributions from capacity utilization and volume did not change much. Soaring diesel prices in August and September will push the SCI deeper into negative territory once the data is finalized, FTR noted.
“There’s nothing positive for shippers in the near term as freight-related factors -- especially rates and utilization -- are still unfavorable and diesel prices have surged to a record level, far surpassing the 2022 peak,” added Vise. “Very high fuel costs could help loosen the truck freight market over the next few quarters, although other factors would need to align to produce that result. That outcome isn’t the safest bet, but it bears watching.”
[Related: 50K truckers striking Oct. 1? What drivers are saying]
Wex intros cardless fuel payments
Fuel payments provider Wex this week announced the launch of cardless fuel payments for its over-the-road (OTR) customers, the latest in the company’s efforts to protect fleets from fraud at the pump.
The new capability lets drivers generate a secure, single-use fuel code directly in the Wex CardControl app, so they can fuel up in seconds with no physical fuel card needed across one of the largest cardless-capable fueling footprints in the industry, the company said.
Physical fuel cards can create fraud and security exposure for fleets. Lost, stolen, shared or skimmed cards can lead to unauthorized charges, driver downtime, and added administrative burden. Cardless fuel payments are designed to close those gaps, giving drivers and fleet managers a more secure way to pay at the pump.
"Fraud at the pump doesn't just cost fleets money, it costs them driver uptime and hours their teams don't have to spare replacing cards and chasing down unauthorized charges," said Tim Hampton, senior vice president and general manager for Wex OTR business. "Wex built cardless payments to reduce that exposure without asking fleets to change how they already manage spend, as it seamlessly integrates into their existing Wex card rather than replacing it."
With Wex OTR cardless, each fuel code is single-use, location-specific, and expires after a short window, virtually eliminating the exposure window a lost or stolen physical card leaves open. For fleets, cardless also simplifies the logistics of card distribution. Once new drivers receive their card, they can be authorized to fuel within minutes.
Cardless fuel codes run through a fleet's existing Wex card program, so the controls and reporting fleets already rely on carry over with zero disruption to existing workflows.
Drivers also aren't dependent on an app or data connection at the pump itself; physical cards and cardless codes can be used interchangeably, with limits shared across both.
Wex OTR cardless is live now at Pilot, One9, Love's, TA, Petro Stopping Centers, TA Express, and Maverik, with other networks rolling out through 2026.
Additionally, cardless payment functionally is available via the Wex application programming interface (API) to embed in customer apps and maintain their unique driver experience. The capability is available to Wex OTR customers at no additional cost and can be enabled by contacting a Wex account manager.
[Related: Truckers' tools to prevent fuel fraud, from complex AI to simple cybersecurity self-help]
