This week in trucking: New wheel-end sensor, diesel prices

Here are the headlines from this week in trucking as of March 26.

Listen to the news on this week's episode of The Fleet Lead podcast here or search for The Fleet Lead on your favorite podcast app.

Summaries of the stories are below:

Heavy-duty repair businesses are doing better, a Fullbay survey finds

Truck repair shop software company Fullbay released its latest State of Heavy-Duty Repair Report, which gathered information from 900 respondents and data from thousands of its customers. The report found that three out of five shops said business was better in 2025 than in 2024—and Fullbay CEO Trent Broberg said that, quote, “From what we’re hearing preliminarily and seeing in the data, 2026 will continue that trend over ‘25”, endquote. Technician hiring and retention, however, remain some of the biggest concerns for shops.

Hendrickson shows off its new wheel-end sensor

At the Technology & Maintenance Council last week, Hendrickson showcased its new Watchman wireless wheel-end sensor technology. Hendrickson claims that insights from the Watchman sensor tech can identify underinflation and air leaks in tires. The Watchman system combined Bluetooth sensors mounted onto hubcaps, a separate receiver, and a mobile app.

In the spot market, refrigerated and flatbed rates are still up!

According to weekly counts from FTR Transportation Intelligence and DAT Freight & Analytics, excluding fuel, average spot rates for dry van fell to about $1 dollar and 92 cents per mile, average refrigerated rates grew to $2 dollars and 32 cents per mile, and flatbed rates jumped to $2 dollars and 34 cents per mile.

In fuel this week, diesel is up 30 cents and counting

The national average on-highway diesel price recently grew to $5 dollars and 38 cents per gallon, according to the Energy Information Administration (EIA). Georgia recently suspended the state’s fuel tax for 60 days to help relieve skyrocketing prices.