Pennsylvania Diesel Averages $6.56 a Gallon as National Price Posts Biggest Weekly Drop of the Iran War

Diesel is averaging about $6.56 a gallon in Pennsylvania, according to AAA. For the people who haul freight for a living, that number is eating the margin.

Lamar Buckwalter, owner of Buckwalter Trucking LLC, told CBS 21 he now shops for fuel with mobile apps and reroutes trips to save pennies. "They test the Jesus in me," he said. "They're just ridiculously expensive."

The price spread is small. Buckwalter said he would pay $6.57 in Carlisle or $6.59 in Greencastle. Cheaper fuel is only part of the problem, he said.

Costs up, rates flat

Buckwalter, a third-generation trucker, says what he spends on diesel for a typical weeklong round trip has climbed sharply. What he gets paid has not.

"Current day is pretty much still at the same rates as what my dad was hauling for back in the 90s," he said.

He also says the higher prices shoppers see in stores have not flowed back to drivers. "We're not making nothing," he said. "It's not just the truck. You know, everybody's feeling the effects of the higher fuel."

That is one owner-operator's account of his own books.

The national picture is easing

The federal numbers point in a better direction. The EIA's latest weekly report put the national average for a gallon of diesel at $6.127, down from $6.292. The 16.5-cent drop is the largest since the Iran war began.

The declines were uneven by region:

• Rocky Mountain region: down nearly 24 cents, from $6.445 to $6.206.
• Midwest: down just over 20 cents, from $6.402 to $6.201.

Crude has fallen too. Brent, the international benchmark, dropped 2.2%, or $2.02, to $90.55 a barrel, its lowest level in three months. U.S. benchmark crude slid 1.8%, or $1.65, to $84.94.

The oil decline followed President Donald Trump's statement that the war in Iran "militarily is effectively over." He said it a week after voters, angry over rising costs, handed both chambers of Congress to Democrats in the midterm elections.

The gap

The $6.56 Pennsylvania figure comes from AAA, while the $6.127 national figure comes from the EIA. The two come from different surveys, so comparing them is rough. The Pennsylvania number is simply where drivers say they are paying now.

A weekly drop of 16.5 cents is also small against a price still above $6. Diesel at $6.127 nationally means a long-haul operator is still paying far more per mile than before the war.

Fuel is a cost truckers cannot dodge. Diesel runs the freight that stocks shelves, so when it costs more to move goods, the expense lands on the carrier, the shipper or the shopper. Buckwalter says it is not landing on the shipper.

What to watch

It is unclear whether the crude slide keeps feeding into pump prices and whether Pennsylvania follows the national trend. Buckwalter does not expect quick relief: he predicts no break at the pump until "probably end of first quarter, beginning of second quarter next year." His complaint also raises a second question: whether cheaper diesel does anything for carriers who say their per-load pay has been stuck for decades.