Old Dominion Freight Line will implement an approximately 4.9% general rate increase Nov. 3, the LTL carrier announced Oct. 20.
The increase is meant to “partially offset the rising costs of real estate, new equipment, technology investments, and competitive employee wage and benefit packages,” Todd Polen, VP of pricing services, said in the release.
The increase affects Old Dominion’s existing 559 standard LTL, 670 cubic meter and 550 fuel-related tariffs. The uptick will vary based on an individual lanes and their distance.
The increase is the first GRI for the Thomasville, North Carolina-based firm since last December. It follows a similar announcement involving a 5.9% increase by ABF Freight parent company ArcBest in August.
Old Dominion will also increase minimum charges on intrastate, interstate and cross-border lanes, the announcement said.
The GRI comes amid soft market conditions, but that’s also bringing some more favorable operating conditions. On-highway diesel prices have been slipping in recent weeks, and the Energy Information Administration projected in August a significant drop to a national average being less than $3.50 per gallon in 2026.
The producer price index for LTL longhaul, showing price changes for sellers, was up 10.5% in August, indicating more than double the average YoY growth over the past three decades.
Nevertheless, in an Oct. 9 monthly market report, Uber Freight projected GRIs in the 3% to 5% and have minimal impact to shippers over the next 12 months.
