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Bulk Freight News

Bulk Freight Market Update — every Monday.

Friday, September 4, 2026

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Bulk Freight Market Update

Weekly bulk freight market analysis from BulkLoads. Rates, lanes, and trends built from verified load data.

By John Calloway · Published weekly on LinkedIn and BulkLoads

The Slide Stopped in July. And the Winners and Losers Are Back.

July 20, 2026

The Slide Stopped in July. And the Winners and Losers Are Back.

The blended median came in at $4.89 a mile through July 18, down just 0.8% after June's 4.5% slide, and the floor forming under rates sits 18.1% above a year ago. The bigger signal is dispersion: soybean meal ripped 21% higher and coal climbed 11% while soybeans fell nearly 13%, the mark of a market pricing on commodity fundamentals again instead of one fuel-driven slide. Diesel found a shelf at $4.80 a gallon, and corn stayed the network's top mover at 1,910 loads.

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MarketsDieselRatesGrain
June Rates Slipped, but the Floor Sits $0.43 Above Where It's Been All Year

July 7, 2026

June Rates Slipped, but the Floor Sits $0.43 Above Where It's Been All Year

The blended median eased 4.5% to $4.93 a mile in June, but the drop is a fuel story, not a demand story: every commodity group fell in lockstep as diesel dropped 12.7% in a single month to $4.67 a gallon. With the Iran ceasefire holding and oil back near pre-war levels, the year-long fuel support is coming out and rate floors are easing with it. Even so, the median still sits $0.43 above its trailing 12-month level, the reset floor is holding, and corn stayed the network's top mover at 3,580 loads.

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MarketsDieselRatesGrain
Rates Cooled in June, but They're Still 17% Above Last June.

June 29, 2026

Rates Cooled in June, but They're Still 17% Above Last June.

The blended median eased 4.3% to $4.94 a mile, but the dip is a fuel story, not a demand story: every commodity group moved down in lockstep as diesel fell 12.5% in a single month to $4.83 a gallon. The fragile Iran ceasefire framework is pulling fuel and rate floors lower together, yet rates are still running 17.1% above last June, with corn, the Midwest, and South Central all cooling off a hot spring.

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MarketsDieselRatesGrain
Rates Down 4.2% in June. The Real Story Is the Fragile Fuel Truce.

June 22, 2026

Rates Down 4.2% in June. The Real Story Is the Fragile Fuel Truce.

The blended median eased 4.2% to $4.99 a mile, but that's a load-mix story, not a demand story: every major group climbed and volume is still running 8.5% above trend. A preliminary Iran ceasefire framework has already pulled diesel about 50 cents off its mid-May high to $5.06, handing carriers a real but reversible fuel tailwind, as corn freight ran up 8.3% and the Midwest pulled away from a cooling South Central.

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MarketsDieselRatesGrain