Diesel Hits All-Time High Ahead of Labor Day Weekend, Drawing Backlash Against Trump Administration
Key Takeaways
- •The U.S. national average diesel price reached a record $5.820 per gallon, exceeding the prior nominal record of $5.819 set in June 2022.
- •The record price occurred days before Labor Day weekend, traditionally among the busiest U.S. travel periods.
- •Critics including Sen. Brian Schatz and economist Heather Long blamed administration policies and warned of knock-on effects for consumer prices.
- •More than 70% of U.S. goods are transported by truck, meaning diesel price increases can raise costs across food and product supply chains.
- •Nominal records do not adjust for inflation, so earlier periods may have been costlier in real terms.
President Donald Trump's critics voiced dismay on Thursday after new data showed fuel prices reached an all-time high just ahead of the Labor Day holiday weekend.
According to data from GasBuddy, the U.S. national average price of diesel set a new record of $5.820 a gallon on Thursday, surpassing the previous daily record of $5.819 a gallon, which was set in June 2022. The record-setting spike came only days before the Labor Day weekend, which is traditionally one of the busiest travel periods of the year in the United States.
The previous record from June 2022 came amid a broader surge in energy prices following Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, which disrupted global oil and refined-product markets. Records set in nominal dollar terms do not account for inflation, meaning earlier periods, adjusted for overall price levels, may have been costlier in real terms.
The news prompted swift criticism of the Trump administration on social media.
"Lovely. It's not like high diesel prices will be passed along in lots of other agricultural and industrial products ... " Aaron Astor, a historian at Gettysburg College, posted on X.
"It is not just that the prices are going up," Sen. Brian Schatz (D-HI) posted on X. "It's that they are being driven up intentionally, with tariffs, the war in Iran, and yanking food and healthcare assistance. They are making life more expensive on purpose, and I'm not sure that's really ever been done before."
"Trump set a record," journalist Mark Ames posted on X.
"Over 70% of goods in the US are transported by truck," Heather Long, chief economist at Navy Federal Credit Union, remarked on X, suggesting that the diesel price spike could push prices higher for other goods purchased by Americans.
"It's a new nominal golden age," Matthew Yglesias, a journalist, posted on X.
Diesel fuel is a key input for trucking, agriculture, and industrial transport in the United States. Because diesel powers the freight trucks that move the majority of American goods, sustained increases in its price are often reflected across supply chains, affecting the cost of transporting food, consumer products, and industrial materials. Diesel prices have historically tended to be more volatile than gasoline prices, in part because U.S. diesel demand is heavily tied to freight and industrial activity and refined-product supply is constrained by limited domestic refining capacity. Policy levers that could influence fuel prices going forward include decisions on tariffs affecting imported energy products, releases from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, and broader trade and foreign-policy stances affecting oil-supplying regions.
Source: Raw Story
