2018 Diesel Prices Stay Consistent Around $3 a Gallon
Diesel powers trucking, and as diesel prices fluctuate they can provide boons or headaches for the industry.
In 2018, a variety of factors pushed the price of trucking's main fuel up and down, including capacity crunches, severe weather catastrophes and geopolitical events.
Transport Topics tracks the Energy Information Agency's diesel numbers and provides weekly analysis of the factors driving fuel trends as well as fuel price data and visualizations.
A look back at 2018's average weekly diesel prices shows that January started out with some of the lowest prices of the year, hovering just below $3 per gallon. Prices fell below $3 a gallon again in March, before steadily increasing in the spring. The average price hit a peak the week of Oct. 15, after eight consecutive weekly increases. The end of 2018 marked 11 straight weeks of decreases, but the average price of diesel remains higher than a year ago.
Diesel prices are not necessarily consistent throughout the United States — location matters. On average, diesel prices were highest on the West Coast and lowest in the Gulf Coast.
TT also tracks weekly gasoline prices, which similarly are affected by rises and falls in the price of crude oil.
Of course, understanding how fuel affects the trucking industry is more than looking at weekly prices. TT in 2018 covered the most pressing fuel-adjacent trends, from carriers weighing strategies to increase fuel efficiency to truck makers moving forward in designing electric and alternative-fuel trucks, and more. Make sure to stay current on diesel trends in the industry with TT's fuel coverage, and check back each week in 2019 for the latest weekly fuel prices.
