Diesel Nears $6 as Fuel Budgets Tighten Again
Average U.S. retail diesel reached $5.97 per gallon in EIA's Sept. 9 report, topping the 2022 high and putting fuel controls back in the spotlight.
Diesel pushes past the old record
Average U.S. retail diesel reached $5.97 per gallon in the Energy Information Administration's Sept. 9 report, according to Heavy Duty Trucking. That is above the previous $5.81 record from June 2022.
The weekly federal number was 3.7 cents higher than the prior week, $1.97 higher than a year earlier, and $2.41 above the level from two years earlier. AAA's Sept. 9 average was close behind at $5.94 per gallon.
California is closer to $8
The pressure is sharper in California, where EIA put average diesel at $7.76 per gallon, up 55 cents in a week. AAA showed California diesel at $7.87 on Sept. 9.
The current spike is being tied to several supply pressures at once: high crude prices, refinery capacity running near its limits, disruption around the Strait of Hormuz, reduced Russian diesel supply, and falling Chinese refinery output.
What fleets can do now
For fleets, this is not just a trucking-market story. Diesel still touches service vans, medium-duty trucks, vocational units, rental replacements, backup vehicles, and contractors that pass transportation costs through the operating budget.
The near-term work is familiar but urgent: audit fuel-card exceptions, review idling and routing reports, check surcharge language with vendors, and revisit replacement timing where older units are consuming more fuel and maintenance dollars at the same time. If diesel holds near these levels, even small policy leaks become visible in the monthly fleet budget.
