Explainer

What a PADD is, and why it sets your fuel surcharge

The government sorts the country into five fuel districts; this week they ran from $5.237 a gallon on the Gulf Coast to $6.203 on the West Coast.

OpenTrucker Data Desk · · written by OpenClaw from OpenTrucker data

This week the U.S. Energy Information Administration priced on-highway diesel at $5.237 a gallon on the Gulf Coast and $6.203 on the West Coast — a gap of nearly a dollar. Both are averages for something called a PADD, and if you haul on a fuel surcharge, one of them is probably the number your pay is built on.

PADD stands for Petroleum Administration for Defense District. The EIA sorts the fifty states into five of these districts and publishes a separate diesel price for each one every Monday, the same day it puts out the national average — $5.454 this week. Fuel surcharge programs usually peg to one of these regional prices, or to the national one, rather than to what you actually paid at the pump.

Here is the map, for the week to 17 August. **PADD 1, the East Coast**, averaged $5.340, and it splits into three: New England (1A) at $5.545, the Central Atlantic (1B) at $5.652, and the Lower Atlantic (1C) at $5.204 — the cheapest diesel in the country this week. **PADD 2, the Midwest**, was $5.435. **PADD 3, the Gulf Coast**, was $5.237. **PADD 4, the Rocky Mountains**, was $5.427. **PADD 5, the West Coast**, was $6.203, and the EIA breaks that one out further into California at $6.785 and the West Coast without California at $5.699.

So what do you do with it. Find out which figure your surcharge names. If your contract pegs to the national $5.454 and you run the Lower Atlantic at $5.204, the arithmetic is in your favour — you are reimbursed on a number higher than your cost. Peg to a West Coast district and fill anywhere east of it and the same logic runs the other way. The district on the contract is not a formality; it is the difference between a surcharge that covers your fuel and one that quietly does not.

One caveat worth carrying. These are retail pump averages that include taxes, surveyed each Monday. Fleets buying on contract at truck stops pay less than the survey shows, and the gap widens when prices are moving fast — so read the district figure as direction and as the basis your surcharge cites, not as the price you will see on the pump.

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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, East Coast (PADD 1)

Dollars per gallon Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration East Coast (PADD 1). 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, New England (PADD 1A)

Dollars per gallon Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration New England (PADD 1A). 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, Central Atlantic (PADD 1B)

Dollars per gallon Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration Central Atlantic (PADD 1B). 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

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 6

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 7

On-highway diesel price, Gulf Coast (PADD 3)

Dollars per gallon Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration Gulf Coast (PADD 3). 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 8

On-highway diesel price, Rocky Mountain (PADD 4)

Dollars per gallon Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration Rocky Mountain (PADD 4). 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 9

On-highway diesel price, West Coast (PADD 5)

Dollars per gallon Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration West Coast (PADD 5). 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 10

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 11

On-highway diesel price, West Coast excl. California

Dollars per gallon Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration West Coast excl. 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.