The average retail price of diesel fuel jumped 4.5 cents to $1.724 per gallon, edging closer to its all-time high set last spring, the Department of Energy reported Monday.
DOE also said the average U.S. retail price for regular-grade gasoline rose 2.7 cents the past week to a record $1.813 a gallon. The increase was the 10th in the last 11 weeks, and boosted the nationwide average above the previous high of $1.786 a week earlier.
The average has set a record for four consecutive weeks.
Meanwhile, the diesel increase was the ninth in 10 weeks. Commercial trucking's main fuel has risen 15.6 cents over that span, leaving it at the highest level since $1.752 on March 17, 2003.
The increase placed diesel prices 19.5 cents higher than they were a year ago, and just 4.7 cents lower than its all-time high of 1.771 reached on March 10, 2003.
DOE said the price of diesel rose in every region in the nation, led by an 8.7-cent spike in the Rocky Mountains and an 8.6-cent jump along the West Coast.
Every region of the country saw an increase of at least 2.5 cents a gallon, DOE said.
Each week, DOE surveys 350 diesel-filling stations to compile a national snapshot price of diesel princes across the country.
