Posted on 09/11/2026 5:45:09 AM PDT by Mount Athos
The U.S. national average price of diesel on Thursday surpassed $6 a gallon for the first time , according to price tracker GasBuddy, as the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran and Ukrainian attacks on Russia’s refineries have squeezed supply.
Diesel fuels trucks, trains, ships and heavy equipment that keep global supply chains moving. It is also crucial to running farm equipment.
The latest surge in fuel costs is adding to inflationary pressures that have already strained consumers and businesses this year, creating a political headache for President Donald Trump and Republican lawmakers as they seek to defend thin congressional majorities in November’s midterm elections.
Crude oil is the biggest driver for fuel prices, and benchmark crude futures have climbed back above $100 a barrel on the intensification of conflict between the U.S. and Iran.
Industries that depend on diesel were already feeling the impact when crude oil futures on Thursday hit their highest level since mid-May. Brent settled at $107.63 a barrel and West Texas Intermediate futures at $102.48 a barrel.
“Every truck, every delivery, every package, every grocery run just got more expensive,” GasBuddy analyst Patrick De Haan said on social media site X.
“Record diesel prices will impact every cargo, shipment, every delivery Americans are taking, and are likely to reignite inflation up and down the supply chain,” he said.
“In a span of five months, we’ve seen diesel prices more than double. It has rocked our cash flows,” said Alex Ryan, energy director at Kansas-based fuel supplier Oasis Energy. “There’s gotta be a tipping point, I just don’t know when or where it’s going to be,” he said.
Farmers and ranchers are frustrated after enduring a series of cost shocks with little relief, said Arthur Erickson, CEO of agricultural drone company Hylio. Many faced mounting financial pressure as production costs surged while crop prices fell.
Higher fuel and transportation costs could further stoke inflation ahead of the midterms, complicating Republican efforts to persuade voters that Trump’s policies are improving affordability.
“The biggest political problem for Republicans is that people will feel this far beyond the gas station,” said Irina Tsukerman, president at geopolitical risk consultancy Scarab Rising. “Some of those costs will reach consumers over the next several weeks, just as voters are making up their minds about November. The timing is especially bad for Trump.”
A Reuters/Ipsos poll last month found Democrats held an eight-point advantage over Republicans on which party had the better approach to the cost of living. Trump acknowledged on Wednesday that relief from the oil-price surge may not come until after the election.
Diesel prices up nearly 60% during war
U.S. diesel prices have surged nearly 60% since the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran in late February. The war has disrupted shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, which before the conflict carried roughly one-fifth of global oil supply.
The market has been squeezed further by Russia’s diesel export ban, imposed as several refineries remain idle following repeated Ukrainian drone attacks. Restrictions on Chinese fuel exports are another factor that further tightened global diesel supply and pushed prices higher.
U.S. diesel inventories stand 13% below their five-year average, the Energy Information Administration said, at 106.3 million barrels. Stocks rose last week as refiners ran plants at full tilt to capture strong margins.
U.S. diesel crack spread, a measure of refining margins, surged to a record high of $112.17 a barrel on Thursday, LSEG data showed.
U.S. distillate inventories are near multi-decade lows for this time of year, even with refiners operating at high utilization rates, said Linda Giesecke, director of refined products at Rapidan Energy. It will likely be difficult to rebuild stockpiles over the next two months as seasonal refinery maintenance gets underway.
“With global diesel supplies also remaining tight, diesel margins are expected to stay elevated and volatile into early next year,” Giesecke said.
Gas and diesel prices suck here in Alabama too. But every time I see the national averages I grumble less.
My diesel Sprinter is parked.
I’m driving my wife’s CRV to the store
For the record
The Diesel Sprinter has the same or better milage than the CRV
Still driving my diesel Tahoe... but we don’t put many miles on vehicles...
Another symptom of shitshow that is globalism. What happens elsewhere should not have an impact here since we are a new exporter not importer.
It’s about $10.16 in Canada, that’s $7.34 American... And £7.60 in the UK, that’s $10.28 American... Consider yourselves lucky.
It’s about $10.16 in Canada, that’s $7.34 American... And £7.60 in the UK, that’s $10.28 American... Consider yourselves lucky.
The price of diesel fuel in 2022 hit well over $7.00 a gallon so I call BS on this report.
How about the Dims name one thing they have done in the last 10 years to make diesel more affordable. This is a refining shortage which Trump is addressing in Venezuela and Texas while California is closing them.
USA is exporting 1.9 million bbl per day of diesel mostly to Australia.
Also Mexico.
That is why us prices are so high and supply low.
In wartime, restrict exports. Trump.
Didn’t I hear we’re the world’s largest energy producer, and didn’t we recently gain access to those huge Venezuelan oil fields?
The average price of diesel was over $7?
This is going to kill us in the mid terms.
“As of September 10, 2026, the average price of diesel fuel in California is approximately $7.91 per gallon.” (highest in the nation).
As of September 10, 2026, the average price for regular gasoline in California is $5.90 per gallon. (highest in the nation).”
Yet voters in California will continue to vote back in the Democrats who will make sure the price of fuel (and everything else) remains highest in the nation - easy to blame Trump, Republicans and “evil, greedy oil companies” - which is exactly what the governor does to deflect blame off of himself.
Amen from NE Alabama. At least I can purchase at the US Army National Guard base at Fort McClellan. Paid $3.60 for regular yesterday. About $3.89 off base.
I spent two years from 2013 to 2015 in Odessa, TX working as a gunsmith. Since the economy of that are is largely dependent on oil, and our shop depended on the oilmen’s income, we followed prices closely. When oil was at $100/barrel money flowed and my customers had lots of it to spend. We saw prices as high as $120/barrel, but gas was around $1.50, so the correlation should not be as skewed as it seems to be now.
I was just in Italy. Diesel is still cheaper than gasoline by 10-15 cents per liter. Both were still around 2 Euros per liter. Which is why you see so many Italians driving scooters, Smart cars and other very small autos.
Plus there are of course serious parking problems is all the places I visited.
In many of the metro areas driving an automobile is totally restricted.
Lets get a reality check at least.
When diesel prices double, it adds roughly 2.1¢ to 3.3¢ per ton-mile to your fuel operating costs, depending heavily on your exact payload weight.
To map out how this impacts a typical [Class 8 regional haul operation](https://runonless.com/drivers-equipment-and-routes-set-for-run-on-less-regional/), we can break the numbers down using industry averages: [1]
*
* Average Regional Fuel Economy: 6.0 MPG.
* The Price Spike: Moving from a baseline of $3.00/gallon up to $6.00/gallon (a $3.00 per gallon increase). [1, 2, 3]
*
## 🚛 From Gallons to Ton-Miles
1. Cost-Per-Mile (CPM) Impact:
A $3.00 per gallon increase divided by 6.0 MPG adds exactly $0.50 per mile in added fuel expenses.
2. Ton-Mile Impact:
To find the cost per ton-mile, that extra $0.50/mile is divided by the weight of the cargo payload (in tons). Because regional trucks carry varying freight weights, the impact shifts accordingly: [4]
| Payload Weight (Lbs) | Payload Weight (Tons) | Added Cost Per Mile | Added Cost Per Ton-Mile |
|-—|-—|-—|-—|
| 30,000 lbs | 15 tons | $0.50 | 3.33¢ per ton-mile |
| 40,000 lbs (Average) | 20 tons | $0.50 | 2.50¢ per ton-mile |
| 48,000 lbs (Max Capacity) | 24 tons | $0.50 | 2.08¢ per ton-mile |
Most cargo is moved regionally as in under 250 miles as in 85% or more of ALL freight mass.
i have posted those exact DOT numbers before so I won’t again. It’s a dead horse it’s a myth that long haul is the main thing truckers do less than 6% exceeds 500 miles from distance by truck.
So a couple of cents per tonne of mass is really emotional not structurally economic. That’s fraction of fractions of a cent per lb of say beef or vegetables. Even cubic yards of concrete are under 25 cents per hard delivered look up what a yard of cement delivered costs 25 cents is a rounding error. Yes it emotionally sucks but fundamentally oil would need to be $400+ per barrel to have the doom and blackpill effects people whine about.
I simply can't make my own gasoline or diesel, or I'd do most of my driving in a car fueled by one of those. Or if I could make my own natural gas I'd heat my home and my water tank with nat gas. But I can't make natural gas either.
But I can make my own power to charge the EV. And with our sunny climate in Alabama it's a good 80% solution. (Only 20% of my power has to be pulled from the grid, most of it during the 4 wintery weather months from Nov - Feb). I'm sure a retired army man like you can appreciate free American citizens trying to be more self-reliant.
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