Pilot 1, open data
Diesel moved. What did it do to a 5 or 20 truck fleet?
U.S. on-highway diesel was $6.199 a gallon in the week of Oct 5, 2026. A year earlier it was $3.711. For an invented 5-truck fleet running 10,400 miles per truck at 6.8 mpg, that gap is about $19,026 more fuel every month. Below: the same shock on the ten biggest truck corridors, and a calculator for your own numbers.
SnapshotEIA diesel, FAF6 flows and Census state pointsData period: Diesel: 104 weeks to Oct 5, 2026. Freight flows: year 2022 (modeled)Retrieved Oct 9, 2026, 12:03 UTCretrieved Oct 9, 2026
Open data, retrieved Oct 9, 2026EXAMPLE VALUES applies only to the two invented fleets and the placeholder inputs
Where the shock lands
States are shaded by the diesel price of their EIA region. Numbered arcs are the ten biggest truck corridors in the federal freight file that are over 200 estimated miles. Click a state or a table row.
- $5.70 to $6.18 (12 states)
- $6.18 to $6.65 (32 states)
- $6.65 to $7.13 (0 states)
- $7.13 to $7.61 (6 states)
- $7.61 to $8.08 (1 states)
The ten corridors, priced in fuel
| # | Corridor (origin to destination) | Thousand tons, 2022 | Million $, 2022 | Est. road miles | Origin diesel now | Origin diesel 52 wk ago | Fuel per trip now | Fuel per trip 52 wk ago | Change per trip |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pennsylvania to New Jersey | 25,910 | 43,932 | 210 | $6.485 | $3.886 | $210 | $126 | +$84 |
| 2 | Illinois to Wisconsin | 25,048 | 46,562 | 377 | $6.286 | $3.670 | $365 | $213 | +$152 |
| 3 | Wisconsin to Illinois | 21,897 | 38,797 | 377 | $6.286 | $3.670 | $365 | $213 | +$152 |
| 4 | New Jersey to Pennsylvania | 21,544 | 43,851 | 210 | $6.485 | $3.886 | $210 | $126 | +$84 |
| 5 | New Jersey to New York | 21,309 | 70,324 | 240 | $6.485 | $3.886 | $239 | $143 | +$96 |
| 6 | Indiana to Ohio | 21,210 | 35,279 | 231 | $6.286 | $3.670 | $223 | $130 | +$93 |
| 7 | Oklahoma to Texas | 20,295 | 29,037 | 366 | $6.286 | $3.670 | $354 | $207 | +$147 |
| 8 | Minnesota to Wisconsin | 19,160 | 25,971 | 296 | $6.286 | $3.670 | $286 | $167 | +$119 |
| 9 | Michigan to Ohio | 18,665 | 31,587 | 409 | $6.286 | $3.670 | $396 | $231 | +$165 |
| 10 | Oregon to Washington | 17,930 | 55,680 | 285 | $7.229 | $4.499 | $317 | $197 | +$120 |
Fuel per trip = est. road miles / 6.5 mpg x origin-region diesel. 6.5 mpg and the 1.2 road factor are placeholders you can change in the calculator. Corridors under 200 estimated miles are skipped because distance between state center points is unreliable at short range. Loaded miles only: empty miles are not in this table.
104 weeks of diesel
High $6.529 on Sep 21, 2026. Low $3.451 on Jun 2, 2025. The chart shows the U.S. line and two regions that bracket the rest over these 104 weeks: PADD 3 has the lowest price of any PADD series in the file, PADD 5 the highest. California has its own, higher series.
- U.S.
- PADD 3 Gulf Coast
- PADD 5 West Coast
Data table behind the chart (every 13th week)
| Week | U.S. | PADD 3 Gulf Coast | PADD 5 West Coast |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 14, 2024 | $3.631 | $3.337 | $4.274 |
| Jan 13, 2025 | $3.602 | $3.321 | $4.213 |
| Apr 14, 2025 | $3.579 | $3.267 | $4.281 |
| Jul 14, 2025 | $3.758 | $3.403 | $4.498 |
| Oct 13, 2025 | $3.665 | $3.299 | $4.464 |
| Jan 12, 2026 | $3.459 | $3.160 | $4.110 |
| Apr 13, 2026 | $5.608 | $5.310 | $6.822 |
| Jul 13, 2026 | $4.796 | $4.546 | $5.550 |
| Oct 5, 2026 | $6.199 | $5.819 | $7.229 |
Did freight prices follow diesel?
Producer price index for long-distance truckload trucking, the index for all truck transportation, and U.S. diesel, each set to 100 in January 2021. By August 2026 the truckload index was +42.1% against January 2021; diesel in September 2026 was +134.7%.
- Long-distance truckload prices
- All truck transportation prices
- Diesel pump price
Data table behind the chart (every 6th month, index January 2021 = 100)
| Month | Long-distance truckload prices | All truck transportation prices | Diesel pump price |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan 2021 | 100.0 | 100.0 | 100.0 |
| Jul 2021 | 109.5 | 108.0 | 124.6 |
| Jan 2022 | 135.7 | 122.5 | 138.9 |
| Jul 2022 | 139.6 | 133.2 | 204.7 |
| Jan 2023 | 128.1 | 125.9 | 170.7 |
| Jul 2023 | 122.3 | 120.3 | 144.8 |
| Jan 2024 | 122.5 | 121.4 | 143.8 |
| Jul 2024 | 130.1 | 126.1 | 142.1 |
| Jan 2025 | 124.3 | 124.3 | 135.6 |
| Jul 2025 | 123.8 | 125.0 | 141.0 |
| Jan 2026 | 124.1 | 126.4 | 131.4 |
| Jul 2026 | 139.5 | 137.8 | 184.9 |
| Sep 2026 | no data | no data | 234.7 |
| Series | Latest month | Latest value | Same month a year earlier | Change in 12 months | Jan 2021 value | Change since Jan 2021 | Highest since Jan 2021 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Producer Price Index by Industry: General Freight Trucking, Long-Distance Truckload Index Dec 2003=100; PCU484121484121 | Aug 2026 | 207.6 | 182.3 | +13.9% | 146.1 | +42.1% | 211.1 (Mar 2022) |
| Producer Price Index by Industry: Truck Transportation Index Dec 2003=100; PCU484484 | Aug 2026 | 213.3 | 191.1 | +11.6% | 151.8 | +40.5% | 213.3 (Aug 2026) |
| Diesel, U.S. retail, monthly mean of EIA weekly prices dollars per gallon; EIA weekly file | Sep 2026 | $6.291 | $3.748 | +67.8% | $2.681 | +134.7% | $6.291 (Sep 2026) |
The price indexes measure what trucking producers receive on average. They are not spot rates and not your rate per mile. Diesel is the monthly mean of the EIA weekly U.S. retail prices.
How to read this
Start at 100
Every line is set to 100 in January 2021, so a line at 130 is 30% above its January 2021 level. This lets series with different units share one chart. It says nothing about which level is "right".
Compare slopes, not heights
If diesel climbs faster than the truckload price index, the price carriers receive has not kept up with fuel. That is a market-wide signal, not a statement about your rates.
Check the last point
The newest month is the first one to be revised. Read the latest value as provisional.
Full set, with employment and freight volume: Freight cost indices.
Two invented fleets
EXAMPLE VALUES| Invented fleet | vs 52 weeks ago | vs two-year low | per truck vs 52 weeks ago |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5 trucks | $19,026 | $21,014 | $3,805 |
| 20 trucks | $76,104 | $84,056 | $3,805 |
Invented fleets: 10,400 miles per truck per month and 6.8 mpg, the same example used by the diesel sensitivity tool. Prices are EIA U.S. weekly averages: today $6.199, 52 weeks ago $3.711, low $3.451. Not a forecast.
What it means
- Fuel is a rate-free cost: you pay it whether or not your rate moved.
- If your pay per mile did not rise with the pump price, the gap in the table came straight out of margin.
- Regions differ. In the latest week the file shows PADD 3 Gulf Coast at $5.819 and PADD 5 West Coast at $7.229, so the same lane costs a different amount to run in each direction.
Your numbers
Pick the trucks and the price to compare with. Everything stays in your browser.
Extra fuel cost, fleet, per month
- Fuel per month at today's price
- Fuel per month at the compare price
- Difference per month
- Difference per year
- Fuel per mile, today vs compare
- Margin per mile today
- Margin per mile at the compare price
- Every further 25 cents adds
Formula: gallons = trucks x miles / mpg. Fuel per month = gallons x price. Margin per mile = revenue - non-fuel cost - price / mpg, with revenue and non-fuel cost held fixed. It assumes your rates did not move with fuel. A surcharge that does move would shrink the gap. The revenue and cost defaults are placeholders, not industry figures.
| Compare with | Price per gallon | Today minus then |
|---|---|---|
| 52 weeks ago, week of Oct 6, 2025 | $3.711 | +2.488 |
| 13 weeks ago, week of Jul 6, 2026 | $4.578 | +1.621 |
| 4 weeks ago, week of Sep 7, 2026 | $5.967 | +0.232 |
| Two-year low, week of Jun 2, 2025 | $3.451 | +2.748 |
What to do tomorrow
Pull last month's fuel card total and your loaded and empty miles
Divide dollars by miles. That is your real fuel cost per mile. Put it next to the calculator's number for your price.
Open three rate confirmations and check the fuel surcharge line
See whether the surcharge moved when the pump price moved. If a line is missing or flat, that is a conversation with that broker.
Check the corridor table for the lanes you run
If one of your lanes is on the list, the "change per trip" column is what that lane costs you in extra fuel today versus a year ago.
Send us your last 20 loads
The free audit puts your revenue per all mile next to this fuel number, so you see margin and not just cost.
Where the numbers come from
Questions
Is this a forecast?
No. Every price is a past weekly average from the EIA file. The calculator compares two prices you choose.
Why is my price different from EIA?
EIA reports a regional retail pump average. Fuel cards, discounts and the stations you use all change what you pay. Type your own price into the calculator.
Are the 5 and 20 truck fleets real?
No. They are invented to show the arithmetic (10,400 miles per truck per month and 6.8 mpg). They are labelled EXAMPLE VALUES on this page.
Why only corridors over 200 miles?
Distance here is straight-line between state center points times a road factor. For neighboring states that is too crude to price a trip.
Want this next to your own revenue per mile? Get my free audit
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