Rising gas prices have garnered a lot of attention, but diesel costs have also surged in recent weeks amid escalating military tensions with Iran.
The average price of a gallon of diesel in the United States was $6.39 on Sept. 17, according to AAA. That’s up from an average of $5.97 on Sept. 10 and $3.70 a gallon on Sept. 17, 2025, the group said.
By comparison, the average price of a gallon of regular gas in the United States was $4.43 on Sept. 16.
Those higher diesel costs have translated to increased grocery prices for many consumers because shipping companies usually make deliveries to stores in diesel-powered trucks. Higher shipping costs are passed on to consumers rather than being absorbed by grocery chains.
While fending off complaints from voters about higher gas and diesel prices, the Trump administration has moved to roll back stringent emissions rules for trucks that trucking companies say could increase the cost of a single truck by as much as $12,000. Those costs could presumably be passed on to consumers, too.
Consumer advocates say customers were already being squeezed by higher prices caused by other factors, such as inflation, before diesel prices started spiking this year.
“Since early 2021, American consumers have seen their family budgets getting squeezed more and more,” said David Holt, president of the Houston-based Consumer Energy Alliance, which lobbies for energy policies that benefit consumers.
“On top of the direct impact of excessively high gasoline and diesel prices, family budgets are crushed by the inflationary impact those fuel prices have on essential, everyday commodities like eggs, bread, milk and clothing — all of which require diesel fuel to get to our markets or homes,” Holt continued. “Simply put, when gasoline and diesel costs go up, the cost of everything goes up.”
Why Diesel Prices Affect Grocery Costs
The USA TODAY Cars team looked at why higher diesel prices can push up grocery costs and whether pending regulations could make food prices rise even more.
According to the American Trucking Associations, a group that lobbies for major trucking companies, diesel trucks moved nearly 73% of the nation’s cargo freight in 2024, the most recent year for which data was publicly available. That translated to 1.27 billion tons of freight transported by trucks that now cost shipping companies a lot more to fill up.
Big rigs have tanks that can range in capacity from 120 to 150 gallons, according to FreightWaves. Such trucks average about 6 miles per gallon, according to the site.
According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Economic Research Service, grocery prices were forecast to increase 2.5% in August 2026. Restaurant and takeout prices were forecast to increase 3.6%, according to the agency.
CEA Midwest Director Chis Ventura said Americans are feeling the pinch no matter how they choose to feed themselves.
“Americans always notice when food and gas prices go up because they can see the money leaving their wallets at the pump, or know that they paid less last month for eggs at the cash register,” Ventura said in a statement. “There is a direct and immediate correlation between the two — higher energy prices mean higher farming, ranching and transportation costs that cause the price of food and groceries to rise, taking more money out of family pockets. It is an inescapable, iron law of consumer prices that policymakers ignore at their own — and American families’ — peril.”
The Status of Truck Emissions Regulations
Under former President Joe Biden, the EPA imposed stringent rules for heavy-duty trucks that would require trucking companies to add expensive emissions-control devices beginning as soon as next year.
Critics complained the new rules could add between $8,000 and $12,000 to the cost of a truck, on top of the record-high diesel prices they are currently facing.
The Trump administration has moved to weaken the truck emissions rules by delaying some of the most stringent requirements until 2030.
Environmentalists have argued that weakening the truck emissions standards will worsen air quality and will not produce savings for consumers, with diesel prices remaining over $6 per gallon.
“Clean truck standards save lives,” Katherine García, director of Sierra Club’s Clean Transportation for All campaign, said in a statement. “Weakening them would mean more toxic pollution in the air and more families paying the price with their health.”
García added: “The technology to meet these standards and make trucks cleaner already exists, manufacturers have said they’re ready, and Americans deserve cleaner air, not another giveaway to polluters.”
Keith Laing is an automotive reporter on the National Trending Desk at USA TODAY. Contact Keith at [email protected].
Reporting by Keith Laing, USA TODAY / USA TODAY
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
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