by WorldTribune Staff, September 21, 2026 Non-AI Real World News
Average diesel prices in the U.S. have topped $6.50 per gallon for the first time in recorded history.
That is a big deal for independent truckers because, in the words of the American Ledger e-letter: “That is who moves our stuff.”
Strikes at an oil refinery in Moscow, Russia. / Social media
The continuing disruptions in the oil markets from the Iran War are being felt less at the pump for regular gasoline and more in the increasing costs of shipping goods.
The reason for the latest spike according to American Ledger:
Russian refineries have been hit. Ukraine keeps targeting them. The Strait of Hormuz is a mess. US refineries are already running flat out. They have nothing left to give. Diesel supply is thin. Really thin.
President Donald Trump is under pressure from Republicans in farm states to buck U.S. oil and gas producers and restrict exports of diesel.
Rep. Ashley Hinson (R., Iowa), who is running for an open Senate seat joined other Republicans on Sept. 21 who want the Trump Administration to pause diesel exports. Iowans “shouldn’t have to foot the bill at the pump or the checkout line for the war in Iran,” Hinson said.
The record-high diesel fuel prices are hitting especially hard in rural and red states.
Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said Trump called her Monday to discuss diesel prices, which hit a record high of $6.51 per gallon on Sept. 21. Energy Secretary Chris Wright, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum and other White House officials were working on the issue during the weekend, according to Rollins who said she expects an announcement “very soon on some potential actions.”
A frustrated Trump called for an end to the “War with Ukraine” in a statement on Sept. 21:
Russia has unfortunately lost control of its Diesel Oil Industry due to its War with Ukraine. A large number of their Diesel refineries have been blown up and are, at least temporarily, out of commission. This ridiculous and never ending War with Ukraine must be ended. The whole World suffers as 25,000 people, mostly soldiers, are being killed each month. What a shame! President DJT
Retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn posted:
You may not want war but war wants you. The military industrial complex exists globally for the globalists. Something is seriously wrong with what is happening in this European war. What happened to the recent “peace” negotiations and did Zelensky give our POTUS the finger by bombing Russian refineries last 24 hrs.? ….
American Ledger explained the impact on the U.S. economy of the diesel fuel crisis:
An owner-operator pulled into a truck stop in Fairview, Tennessee this week. He filled his rig. The pump stopped at more than $1,200. He stood there and stared.
That was not gas. That was diesel. And diesel hit an all-time high on Wednesday. $6.31 a gallon. The old record from June 2022 is gone. Here’s what worries me. Regular gas is nowhere near its own high. So most people don’t feel this yet. But diesel moves everything we buy. Your food. Your kid’s school bus. The Amazon box on the porch. The tractor that grew the wheat in your bread….
Think about what runs on this stuff. Almost every big truck on the highway. Two out of three tractors on a farm. Almost every train hauling freight across the country. The ships at the port. The backhoe at the job site down the street.
Big trucking companies locked in fuel deals months ago. They have hedges. They have fuel desks and buying power. They pass surcharges to their customers. Their margins are growing right now, not shrinking.
The small guy has none of that. The driver in Fairview owns one truck. Maybe two. No hedge. No fuel desk. No leverage. Just a bill and a customer in Nashville who does not want to pay a surcharge. He is deciding today if he eats the cost or loses the account. Either way, he loses. ….
Multiply him by 350,000 owner-operators. …. That is who is about to break. Some will park the truck. Some will sell it and take a warehouse job. The freight will still move. It will move through the big carriers. And the big carriers will charge us more. We will pay it. There won’t be anyone else.
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