AAA is a nonprofit federation of motor clubs in North America offering roadside assistance, travel services, and insurance, known for tracking U.S. gas prices.
Diesel averaged $6.30 a gallon on Wednesday, about 68% above its level before the Iran war, according to AAA. Fed district reports describe surcharges spreading, with some firms able to reprice and others absorbing the cost.
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IEA members agreed Thursday to speed up the last 100 million barrels of their emergency release, including more than 20 million of diesel. US retail diesel was $6.32 a gallon that day, more than 70% above a year earlier, according to AAA.
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The National Retail Federation forecasts $1.01 trillion in November and December holiday spending, up 4.2% with no adjustment for inflation. Forecasters including the NRF and Mastercard put about half the gain on prices, so implied unit growth is nearer 2%.
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Treasury licensed Russian diesel sales after President Trump said Vladimir Putin would immediately release hundreds of thousands of tonnes onto world markets. NBC News reported that the authorization runs until April 7, 2027, so operators have a fixed end date to budget against while the promised tonnage rests on Trump's account.
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Trump says Putin will ship the US more than 800,000 tons of diesel by November, reversing a ban on Russian oil held since the Ukraine war began. Analysts quoted by Fortune expect the cargoes to come out of other buyers' supply, so freight keeps paying near-record prices.
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US diesel sits 71% above a year ago against 56% for crude, a split Energy Aspects' Amrita Sen links to inflation and Treasury yields. A fuel clause pegged to crude has recovered only about four-fifths of the rise in what truckers and farmers pay.
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Some months-old 2026 Toyota Rav4s are listing for $3,000 to $6,000 above new dealer prices, according to CarGurus data. Toyota cannot build the hybrids fast enough, so sellers of nearly new ones are asking shoppers to pay to skip the wait.
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Trump signed an order Monday letting anyone buy tax-exempt red-dye diesel and said it would save truckers more than $100 per fill-up. How much fleets actually save depends on four federal departments expanding access and on states choosing to suspend their own diesel taxes.
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Diesel at $6.53 a gallon is a political problem for Trump. The remedy under discussion would hold a record 1.6 million barrels a day at home, in a market where the world price still sets the US price.
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Cox Automotive now expects its Manheim used-vehicle price index to end 2026 up about 0.2%, down from the 2% gain it projected in July. Losses came in large trucks and SUVs while EVs and small cars gained value, a split that points to fuel costs.
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Five environmental groups asked a federal appeals court to review the Trump administration's cut of 2031 fuel economy targets to 34.9 mpg from a projected 50.4. Automaker and fleet plans built on the looser target now depend on a rule the petitioners want stopped.
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Ohio lawmakers passed a 90-day fuel tax holiday that lifts the 47-cent diesel tax, bringing relief to about a third of U.S. states, per an AP review. Each state sets its own terms and end dates, so a multi-state fleet's fuel budget can now change within weeks.
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Crude had a reserve to tap and refined product does not, which is why taking roughly 3% of global diesel supply out of the market has pushed the US pump average to an all-time high with the squeeze still building.
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Todd Vasos told a Goldman Sachs conference that middle and upper-middle households now behave like Dollar General's under-$45,000 core shopper. The national gasoline average is $4.476 a gallon, up from $3.189.
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The national average hit $4.48 on Friday, $1.27 above last September, and the drivers Fortune interviewed describe trading groceries for fuel even as two of them say they will still vote Republican.
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Copper has climbed as much as 20% this year and an EV uses 2.9 times more of it than a gas car, so the buyer interest that $4.47 gasoline created is landing on an industry that already cut its capacity.
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Diesel's national average has never been higher, and the Oct. 1 shutdown being promoted on top of that number traces back to AI-generated flyers. Gizmodo found no coordination behind any of them.
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Kevin Warsh's board voted unanimously for a 0.25-point increase with consumer prices up 3.4 percent in August. Navy Federal's chief economist says the Fed signaled two or three more hikes to come.
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WalletHub finds 43% of Americans expect to work until they die and 29% are counting on relatives. The one measured labor-supply figure in the file, employment among the over-65s, has climbed about 0.3 points a year.
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AAA had the U.S. diesel average at $6.05 a gallon on Friday, up about 60% from the $3.76 of late February, and a Missouri farmer burning 200 gallons a day for 30 days now faces roughly $36,300 in fuel for the combine alone.
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Invest · September 12, 2026 · One report1 publisher