Diesel Price Drops 4 Cents to Lowest Level This Year

The average retail price of diesel fuel declined 4 cents per gallon to $1.444, the U.S. Department of Energy reported Monday.

This was the ninth straight week the price of commercial trucking's dominant fuel has declined, leaving it at the lowest point since $1.44 on Dec. 23. Diesel has declined 32.7 cents over the past nine weeks.

Diesel is now only 14.5 cents above the corresponding week a year ago.

DOE also said the average price for gasoline fell 2.2 cents to $1.491, the eighth straight week the price has declined.

Gasoline, used by about one-third of trucking, is down 23.7 cents from a record $1.728 set on March 17, according to DOE figures.

The price of diesel declined between 2.4 cents and 5.3 cents in each of DOE's five geographic regions. Diesel remained the cheapest along the Gulf Coast, at 1.366 per gallon.

Each week, DOE surveys 350 diesel-filling stations to compile a national snapshot price of diesel and gasoline.