Diesel Prices Rise Five Cents; Highest Since Dec. '00

The national average price of diesel fuel rose 5 cents a gallon last week, the Department of Energy reported Monday, reaching $1.542 – its highest price since Dec. 18, 2000.

Diesel fuel is a major expense for the trucking industry and price fluctuations can hurt companies' bottom line.

Prices for gasoline, the other major fuel for trucking, also took a significant jump, rising 5.4 cents a gallon to $1.527 -- the highest since Sept. 17, 2001 when the price was $1.529.

Back in Dec. 18, 2000, the DOE said that the national average diesel price was $1.545 a gallon.

Recently, diesel prices have been propped up by tensions surrounding the Middle East – a major oil-producing region – and a general strike in Venezuela, which is also a major exporter of crude oil.

Diesel prices rose at least 3.3 cents per gallon in every one of the geographical regions that the DOE’s Energy Information Administration uses to compare national diesel prices.

The largest increase in diesel prices was felt in the Midwest, where consumers saw the cost of a gallon of fuel rise 6 cents to $1.532.

Regional diesel averages equaled or surpassed $1.50 a gallon in every one of the five major regions that the EIA measures and all four of the smaller zones that the group looks at.

The most expensive diesel fuel was reported in the Central Atlantic states, which include New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware and Maryland. In that region, EIA said diesel prices were $1.66 a gallon.

Each week, the EIA surveys 350 diesel-filling stations around the country to compile a snapshot of fuel prices in the United States for that week.