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.