Diesel sits at $5.454 as an oil spike and new tariffs top the week's news

The national on-highway diesel average was **$5.454 a gallon** in the week to 17 August, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration — up 3.7% on the prior survey and 46.9% higher than a year ago. That is a retail pump average including taxes; fleets buying on contract at truck stops pay less, so read it as direction, not as what lands on your fuel card.

The reason to watch it this week: crude jumped after a U.S. strike in the Strait of Hormuz on 30 August broke a lull in the fighting. Diesel and crude do not move in lockstep or on the same clock, so there is no price to call here — but the direction of the news is worth knowing before you commit to a long fuel stop.

Where you fill still matters more than the headline. The pump map runs $1.58 wide, from **$6.785** in California down to **$5.204** across the lower Atlantic. If your route gives you the choice, the eastern and Gulf states hold the cheaper tanks.

The good news is on the cold side. Refrigerated produce rates held at **$4.21 a mile** nationally in the week to 25 August, up 1.8% on the week, with the short Delmarva runs into Baltimore and Philadelphia paying the most. That figure is produce-only and an unweighted average across whatever lanes were busy, so treat the lane table as the real signal — but if you pull a reefer, the cold trailer is still the one earning.

Elsewhere since the last roundup:

- **Canada tariffs** were named on aluminum, steel, pulp and paper, with packaging and metals groups warning of higher costs on both sides of the border (Trucking Dive).
- **Cheap van trailers face new import duties**, though the biggest Canadian and Mexican builders dodged the steepest rates, so the price shock for buyers may be smaller than first alleged (Land Line).
- West Coast states, Canada and Mexico are backing a **zero-emission charging corridor along I-5** (Trucking Dive).
- **July port volumes slowed** despite pockets of strength and tightening capacity (Transport Topics).
- Two reminders to lock things down: thieves lifted a **Nike load out of Memphis** that later surfaced in Illinois, and Florida charged three county employees in a **CDL-fraud scheme** (The Trucker; Land Line).