According to a report in Transport Topics, the national average price of a gallon of diesel increased 9.7 cents to $2.973 cents a gallon. This data is reported weekly by the Energy Information Administration and this rise covers the data released by the EIA on Feb. 22.
Some notable facts shippers should be aware of:
- The price of a gallon of diesel has increased 17.2 cents in the past two weeks.
- Diesel now costs 9.1 cents more than it did at this time last year.
- This week’s increase is the largest since a 15.3-cent spike Sept. 4, 2017, and marks the first of at least 9 cents since it rose 9.4 cents Sept. 23, 2019.
- For the rest of us, the average price of a gallon of gasoline jumped even more. It actually rose 13.2 cents a gallon to hit $2.633. This price is now 16.7 cents per gallon more expensive than a year ago.
Keeping tabs on what’s going on with carrier capacity issues, as well as energy concerns around the world, it is our feeling that we will continue to see these diesel as well as gasoline prices continue to rise. Will we see $4.00 a gallon gasoline soon? There is certainly a good chance of that.
For shippers whose rates include variable diesel fuel surcharges, without any caps on fuel increases within their carrier contracts, get ready to dig deeper and deeper into your pockets.