Diesel Soars 30.8 Cents to $2.898; Gasoline Tops $3

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he U.S. average retail price of diesel fuel rose a record 30.8 cents to an all-time high of $2.898 a gallon, while gasoline soared 45.9 cents to $3.069, the first time the average has topped $3, the Department of Energy said Tuesday.

The gains, which DOE reported following its weekly survey of filling station, followed huge retail price spikes last week in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, which hurt refining infrastructure along the U.S. Gulf Coast.

This week's diesel jump marked a fourth straight all-time record high price for trucking's main fuel, which is $1.029 a gallon higher than this time last year.

That would add $205.80 to the price tag of a trucker filling a big rig’s 200-gallon diesel tanks and boost the trucking industry’s costs by about $685 million for the week, at a burn rate of 665 million gallons, over the same week last year.

Gasoline was $1.219 above the price following Labor Day last year, which would add $353 million in costs to the trucking industry for the week at a burn rate of 290 million gallons of gasoline a week.

Regional diesel average prices rose sharply in all five DOE regions. The East Coast led with a 33.6-cent gain to $2.90, with the Gulf Coast not far behind, rising 32.5 cents to $2.833 a gallon.

The Midwest region’s price jumped 31.1 cents to $2.843 and the Rocky Mountain region’s rose 25 cents to $2.976, DOE said.

The West Coast region remained the highest national average, spiking 22.9 cents to $3.149 a gallon, while the California sub-region rose 20.5 cents to $3.25 a gallon.

Each week DOE surveys 350 filling stations to compile a national snapshot retail price.