Monthly Report · July 2026
State of Cross-Border Freight
July 2026: U.S. on-highway diesel down 5.8%, UPS parcel fuel surcharge -0.06 pts, and Canada-US commercial border waits down 1 minutes on average.
Published August 1, 2026 · Covers 2026-07-01 to 2026-07-31
EIA Diesel Avg
$4.84/gal
▼ 5.8% MoM
UPS / FedEx FSC
23.94% / 24.44%
▼ 0.06 pts MoM
Network Avg Border Wait
1 min
▼ 1 min MoM
Diesel: weekly EIA national average
The U.S. on-highway diesel index averaged $4.84/gal in January 1970, a down 5.8% change from December's $5.14/gal — and up 0.0% year over year.
Weekly EIA on-highway national diesel price · weeks ending Jul 5 – Aug 2, 2026
Diesel softened steadily through the month. The week-ending high was $5.31 and the low was $4.58 — a swing of 0.73 per gallon. For shippers tracking line-haul fuel exposure, that's roughly $5 in saved fuel cost per 1,000-mile dry-van trip versus the start of the month (assuming 6.5 mpg).
Fuel surcharges: parcel and LTL
Carriers reset fuel surcharges weekly off the EIA index. Below is the monthly average effective surcharge on each carrier's published table, plus an LTL composite drawn from the major carriers' national tariffs.
| Carrier / Mode | Jan 1970 avg | Prior month | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| UPS Ground (parcel) | 23.94% | 24.00% | ▼ 0.06 pts |
| FedEx Ground (parcel) | 24.44% | 24.50% | ▼ 0.06 pts |
| LTL composite (dry) | 42.0% | 43.9% | ▼ 2.0 pts |
| Reefer LTL composite | 48.5% | 50.4% | ▼ 2.0 pts |
| Reefer FTL spot ($/mi) | $0.66 | $0.72 | ▼ $0.05 |
LTL composite reflects the simple average of Old Dominion, XPO, Saia, and Estes published national tables applied to the month's diesel average.
Canada–US commercial border waits
Network-wide commercial-truck wait time averaged 1 minutes across the CBSA reporting crossings — down 1 minutes from the previous month. The three busiest GTA-corridor and BC crossings:
Surrey, BC ↔ Blaine, WA
Pacific Highway
7 min
▲ 2 min vs prior month
Prior: 5 min
Huntingdon, BC ↔ Sumas, WA
Huntingdon / Sumas
5 min
▲ 0 min vs prior month
Prior: 5 min
Fort Erie, ON ↔ Buffalo, NY
Peace Bridge
3 min
▲ 0 min vs prior month
Prior: 3 min
From the CargoTools desk
— CargoTools Editorial Team
What this means for your shipping costs
- → Parcel: On a $100 base parcel rate, fuel surcharge is roughly $0.06 lower per shipment versus last month. Across 1,000 shipments that's about $1/month back to the bottom line.
- → LTL: On a $400 LTL line-haul, fuel surcharge ran roughly $8.00 lower per shipment than last month. Use our FSC auditor to confirm your carrier passed the savings through.
- → Cross-border: Network-wide waits eased 1 minutes. Marginal relief for time-sensitive cross-border lanes.
Use these data points in your workflow
Tool
Live Fuel Surcharge Tracker →
UPS and FedEx surcharges this week, updated from EIA diesel automatically.
Tool
FSC Auditor →
Was your fuel surcharge fair? Compare carrier billing against the EIA standard.
Tool
Border Wait Times →
Live commercial-truck wait times across all CBSA crossings.
Tool
USMCA Checker →
Confirm your shipment qualifies for duty-free Canada–US–Mexico treatment.
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Methodology & sources
Diesel prices reflect the EIA's published U.S. weekly on-highway average aggregated across daily snapshots taken during the month. Parcel fuel surcharge percentages are computed using each carrier's published indexed-rate table applied to that day's diesel price, then averaged. LTL fuel surcharge reflects an industry composite of major national carriers (Old Dominion, XPO, Saia, Estes) regressed against diesel. Border wait times are the daily commercial-truck reading sourced from CBSA and CBP, averaged across the month.