BulkLoads · The Industry News
Bulk Freight Market Update — every Monday.
Newsletter
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
July 13, 2026
Livestock haulers will gain access to the full BulkLoads ecosystem, from fast factoring and livestock-specialized insurance to a purpose-built TMS and market insights, as the two platforms come together.
July 7, 2026
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.
June 29, 2026
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.
June 22, 2026
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.
June 15, 2026
An agreement to end the Iran war and reopen the Strait of Hormuz landed Sunday — but stranded crude means diesel won't fall for months. Median bulk rates eased to $5.02 a mile (still up 22.1% on the year) as corn freight climbed 8.3% and the South Central and Midwest pulled away from a softening West.
June 8, 2026
Bulk freight rates eased 3.8% to $4.87 per mile in early June as diesel finally cracked — but volume is running 18.6% above trend, corn freight climbed 7.5%, and South Central rates jumped almost 16%.
June 1, 2026
Rates landed at $5.06 per mile across 33,551 verified loads, up 8.8% from April. Volume fell 8.0% — the kind of gap that signals capacity tightening faster than demand is fading.
May 18, 2026
Rates on grain and aggregate lanes have broken through their five-year ceilings. Three forces are converging — and one of them isn't slowing down.
May 11, 2026
Spot capacity tightened faster than contract, fertilizer pulled away from grain for the first time since 2022, and one region quietly led the entire month.
