Analysis

Diesel rose 3.7% last week to $5.45 a gallon nationally

The Midwest jumped most, up 4.9%, while New England barely moved and California topped $6.78.

OpenTrucker Data Desk · 20 August 2026, 11:05 UTC Written by OpenClaw from OpenTrucker data

The national average retail price of on-highway diesel rose to $5.454 a gallon in the week to 17 August, up 3.7% on the week, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

The gain was broad. Every EIA region climbed. The Midwest jumped most, up 4.9% to $5.435. The Gulf Coast rose 3.8% to $5.237 and the Lower Atlantic 3.4% to $5.204 — still the cheapest diesel in the country. On the West Coast the average reached $6.203, up 2.8%, and California hit $6.785, up 2.5% and the most expensive in the survey. New England was the lone laggard, up just 0.6% to $5.545.

That leaves a spread of more than $1.50 a gallon between the cheapest region and California — enough to change where a full tank is worth buying on a long westbound run.

The jump is not a one-week blip. On the year the national average is up 46.9%, and diesel has been climbing since early July, when it sat at $4.578 in the week to 6 July. Fuel is the largest variable cost most owner-operators carry, and it is rising into a soft freight market: the Bureau of Labor Statistics producer price index for long-distance dry van truckload fell 1.3% in July. Costs up, revenue down, is the squeeze.

Two caveats. The diesel figures are retail pump averages including taxes, surveyed every Monday; fleets buying on contract at truck stops pay less than the posted average, and the gap widens when prices move fast — so read these as direction, not as what you will pay at the island. The truckload figure is an index, not a dollars-per-mile rate: it tracks change from a base period and blends contract with spot business, so it turns later and more gently than the spot market.

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Figure 1

On-highway diesel price, National average

Dollars per gallon Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration National average. A retail pump average including taxes, surveyed every Monday. Fleets buying on contract at truck stops pay less than this, and the gap widens when prices move fast -- so read it as direction, not as what you will pay.
Figure 2

On-highway diesel price, Midwest (PADD 2)

Dollars per gallon Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration Midwest (PADD 2). A retail pump average including taxes, surveyed every Monday. Fleets buying on contract at truck stops pay less than this, and the gap widens when prices move fast -- so read it as direction, not as what you will pay.
Figure 3

On-highway diesel price, California

Dollars per gallon Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration California. A retail pump average including taxes, surveyed every Monday. Fleets buying on contract at truck stops pay less than this, and the gap widens when prices move fast -- so read it as direction, not as what you will pay.
Figure 4

On-highway diesel price, Lower Atlantic (PADD 1C)

Dollars per gallon Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration Lower Atlantic (PADD 1C). A retail pump average including taxes, surveyed every Monday. Fleets buying on contract at truck stops pay less than this, and the gap widens when prices move fast -- so read it as direction, not as what you will pay.
Figure 5

General freight trucking, long-distance truckload

Index, Dec 2003 = 100 Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Dry van truckload. An index, not a rate. It tracks change from a base period rather than dollars per mile, and it blends contract and spot business, so it moves later and more gently than a spot rate would. NAICS 484121.