If you think gasoline prices are high, get a load of diesel fuel prices! Some truck stops are selling diesel at more than $5 a gallon. Dr. Walter Lane, the chairman of the Department of Economics, Finance and Accounting at UNO, says even if you don’t commute to and from work via semi-truck, you will feel the effects.
“It’s not good news for the inflation that we’re trying to get under control, because almost everything we consume comes by truck,” Lane said.
Dr. Lane says tractor-trailers are an extremely important component to logistics, since they usually handle the final leg of a product’s journey to the store’s shelves.
“Almost everything your grocery store, everything in Walmart may be traveling by ship and it may be traveling by train. But the last little bit, and sometimes cross-country, comes by truck,” Lane explained.
According to the Engine Technology Forum, about 97% of all Class 8 commercial trucks – the ones we usually refer to as “18-wheelers” – are powered by diesel engines. And Lane says the more it takes to keep them fueled, the more the goods they transport will end up costing us.
“When transportation expenses go up, they will be passing that along in terms of higher prices for the wholesale price, and that’s going to work its way down the supply chain to us,” Lane said.
The current average diesel price, however, is not a record. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, that was set at the end of June of 2022, when the nationwide average for a gallon of diesel shot up to $5.78 a gallon.
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