After several weeks of going up, the national average on-highway diesel price Monday took a slight dip (three tenths of a penny) to $3.285, and six of the U.S. Energy Information Administration’s (EIA) 10 reporting sectors also showed diesel price decreases.
But it turns out the three regions where diesel prices went up (California, the Rocky Mountain area and the Gulf Coast sector), were only up slightly (six tenths of a penny for two and one tenth of a penny for the third).
California, which consistently has the most expensive diesel, finally broke the $4-a-gallon ceiling, hovering at $4.003.
The West Coast reporting sector stayed the same as it was last week at $3.784, and truckers traveling through the area may be the next to see $4-a-gallon diesel.
Diesel prices began creeping up March 26 when the on-highway average went from $2.972 the previous week to $3.01. From there, it continued on a more-or-less upward trajectory despite a few hiccups along the way.
Energy companies traded lower as benchmark U.S. crude dropped 1.6 percent to $64.75 a barrel in New York. Brent crude, used to price international oils, fell 2 percent to $75.29 per barrel in London, The Associated Press reported.
Wholesale gasoline lost 1 percent to $2.12 a gallon. Heating oil slid 1.1 percent to $2.15 a gallon. Natural gas fell 1.1 percent to $2.93 per 1,000 cubic feet.
For diesel prices by area click here.
Dorothy Cox is former assistant editor – now retired – of The Trucker, and a 20-plus-year trucking journalism veteran. She holds a bachelor’s degree in fine arts and a master’s degree in divinity. Cox has been in journalism since 1972. She has won awards for her writing in both mainstream and trucking journalism.
