Friday, October 23, 2026
The Institute for Supply Management's services survey slipped to 54.9 in September, still comfortably in growth. Its prices index rose to 74, the highest since July 2022. Half of the purchasing managers surveyed paid more for what they buy; 2.2 per cent paid less. All 17 industries that reported a change in prices reported an increase.
At least 16 trucking and delivery companies entered bankruptcy between late August and 21 September, FreightWaves found. Seven of them ran six trucks or fewer. Diesel hit a record $6.53 a gallon in the same weeks, but spot freight rates have also risen, from about $2.40 a mile a year ago to $3.42. The squeeze on small carriers is less about the price of fuel than about when they have to pay for it.
The Group of Seven agreed on Friday to release 100 million barrels of diesel and crude from emergency stocks over four months, coordinated by the International Energy Agency. The statement gives no split between diesel and crude, names no countries, and describes the release as implementing existing commitments. US diesel stocks are at their lowest for late September in four decades of weekly records.