Diesel Price Up 1.9 Cents to $1.173

The price of diesel fuel jumped 1.9 cents per gallon last week to $1.173, its second consecutive increase following two weeks of modest declines, the Department of Energy reported Monday.

The price of gasoline also made significant gains -- jumping 2.8 cents per gallon to $1.144 last week.

Fuel is a major part of the cost of trucking, making any change in its price critical.

The price increase pushed the average cost of diesel fuel to its highest point since Dec. 10, 2001, when the price was exactly $1.173 per gallon, according to historical statistics kept by the DOE’s Energy Information Administration.

The price of diesel saw its biggest increase on the West Coast where the price went up 4.3 cents to $1.257 per gallon. Large increases of 2.3 cents, 1.8 cents and 1.7 cents per gallon were seen in the Midwest, Gulf Coast and Rocky Mountain regions respectively.

On the East Coast, the price of the fuel remained relatively flat, only increasing 0.4 cent per gallon to $1.19.

The West Coast, after its large jump, was home to the costliest diesel, while the Gulf Coast continued to have the least expensive fuel at $1.144 per gallon.

The price of diesel rose in every one of the EIA’s geographic regions, and in all of the divisions in those regions, except for the Central Atlantic area of the East Coast region, where the price dipped by one-half cent per gallon.

The EIA surveys 350 fueling stations in five regions at the start of each week, and usually reports the results on the same day that it polls the stations.

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