August haulage prices jump despite fuel price drops and recession fear

You might expect average prices-per-mile on The Exchange to have dropped in August. 

Experts keep telling us there’s a recession on the cards. And, with more and more people fearing a recession, a drop in demand for fuel has caused pump prices to fall. 

Even so, our August price index shows average prices-per-mile on the Haulage Exchange in fact increased by 0.86% in August… which means average road transport prices have now increased for six months straight.  

Exchange load posters might therefore plan for haulage fees to be a little higher than they were a month or so ago. Drivers, meanwhile, might expect their revenues to increase. 

Kirsten Tisdale, Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Logistics & Transport and leading logistics expert, believes the key driver behind the price hike is the time of year: “[I]f I was a betting person I’d have put money on it going down given the state of the economy!” she said. But having said that, perhaps I shouldn’t have been surprised as the haulage index has always gone up at this time of year since it started back in 2019.” 

The bottom line? 

For now, haulage prices remain buoyant despite the economic downturn… and prices usually rise as Christmas nears.