Diesel jumps 6.6% in a week, and the cheapest region is $2.16 under California

Fuel drove the week, and it drove hard -- but it moved unevenly, and freight rates moved up underneath it. That makes this a week to fuel smart and price with confidence, not to panic.

**Where you fill matters more than usual.** EIA's Monday survey put the national diesel average at $5.967 a gallon, up 6.6% on the week and 58.4% on the year. The move wasn't even: California sits at $7.764 a gallon while the Lower Atlantic -- the Carolinas through Georgia -- is the cheapest region at $5.605, a $2.16 spread, or about $324 on a 150-gallon fill. If your lane touches both coasts, tank on the cheap side. [Every region is on our fuel page.](/trends/diesel-us/)

**Rates are climbing into the spike, and that's the offset.** This is genuine good news: our LTL index rose 4.5% on the month and is up 14.3% on the year, and dry van truckload is up 1.9% on the month and 13.9% on the year. Reefer is holding too -- the national refrigerated produce rate sat at $4.11 a mile, essentially flat on the week and up 8.2% on the year, and the short produce lanes are paying: Vidalia, Georgia into Atlanta cleared $7.22 a mile this week. Revenue is moving the same direction as your fuel bill, not against it. If you have the reefer trailer, September is the month to use it.

**The pump move has a cause worth watching.** Transport Topics reports a drone-damaged Saudi pipeline will be out of service for weeks, tightening the global flow of crude -- the pressure sitting behind the pump.

**Watch for a registration scam.** FreightWaves reports FMCSA is warning carriers about four fake Motus registration sites that push urgent "profile update" demands and steer you to .com domains; the only legitimate portal is motus.dot.gov.

**Check your fleet for a recall.** The Trucker reports Daimler Trucks North America is recalling certain trucks over previous incorrect repairs -- worth running your VINs if you operate them.