A new Fox News report published Friday found that soaring diesel prices — driven by President Donald Trump's conflict with Iran — have pushed a wave of trucking and freight companies into bankruptcy.

According to the network, which has long been aligned with Trump though their relationship has grown increasingly strained, "At least eight transportation-related companies sought Chapter 11 protection during the month." Chapter 11 is a reorganization process that allows a company to keep operating while it restructures its debts.

After detailing the closures of the eight companies, which were based in Texas, Florida, Kansas, Arizona, Louisiana, and Illinois, Fox explained: "The filings come as the trucking industry faces mounting costs, including higher fuel and insurance expenses." Marcus Overcast, owner of Truckload LLC, told FOX Business in a phone call that diesel and insurance costs contributed to his company's bankruptcy filing, with insurance representing the biggest pressure.

Diesel prices have climbed to historic highs amid energy disruptions caused by the closure of the Strait of Hormuz — a narrow chokepoint that normally carries a significant share of the world's seaborne oil — and the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine. The rising costs have hit transport companies and farmers hard, angering a key part of Trump's base and driving up consumer prices more broadly — pressures that have contributed to the president's declining popularity and predictions that the GOP will suffer major losses in the midterm elections.

The Trump administration has pursued a series of responses. Trump and officials initially floated a diesel export ban but ultimately dropped the idea after experts across the political spectrum warned the plan would backfire. The president has also moved to build infrastructure to bolster fuel production, though those efforts will not begin to affect prices for years.

With longer-term supply measures still years out, his latest attempt to mitigate the crisis came in the form of an executive order that temporarily allows the use of red-dyed diesel, which is normally restricted from use on roads and highways. The dye marks diesel that is exempt from on-road fuel taxes and typically reserved for off-road equipment such as farm machinery, which is why it sells for less than taxed pump diesel. Automotive expert Lauren Fix told FOX Business the approach would make a "huge difference," estimating potential savings of 50 cents to $1 per gallon. Even so, prices would remain well above the pre-war average of around $3.50. As of mid-October, the average price stood at nearly $6.30, according to AAA. The relief is temporary by design, and the underlying supply disruptions — the closed strait and the war — remain unresolved.

The price surge has been especially acute in farming states. As Newsweek recently reported, Trump is polling underwater in the 10 states that lead in agricultural sales, including traditionally Republican Texas and Nebraska as well as battlegrounds Iowa and Wisconsin. The GOP is accordingly expected to lose the House and possibly even the Senate in the midterms.

Fox has previously sounded the alarm on the issue, with a panelist declaring: "Diesel prices are up gargantuan. This big time matters to the whole economy, from the consumer to the biggest of businesses. Something's got to get done."

Fix, speaking to Fox, described how higher diesel prices ripple across the wider economy: "When gas prices go up or diesel prices go up, everything that goes from point A to point B is affected." She pointed to agricultural equipment and products moving from ports to warehouses or from farms to markets, as well as package and food deliveries, noting, "Everything has to get somewhere somehow, and so everything gets more expensive."