The national average retail price of a gallon of diesel fell 2.5 cents to $3.964 for the week ending Monday, March 31. The diesel price had set record highs for five weeks prior to Monday’s decline.
Still, the price, which had climbed 70.9 cents in the previous six weeks, is $1.174 higher than the same week last year, according to the U.S. Department of Energy. The average price has been above $3 for 28 consecutive weeks.
All regions tracked by DOE saw prices decreases except for the Rocky Mountain region, where week-over-week prices climbed 1.9 cents to $3.972. The biggest price decrease, 3.5 cents, was in the Midwest region, where the price fell to $3.929. The smallest decrease, 0.7 cent, was in the West Coast region, where the price declined to $4.049.
The nation’s most expensive diesel by region, $4.160, was in the Central Atlantic region, where week-over-week prices fell 2.6 cents. The nation’s least expensive diesel by region, $3.907, was in the Gulf Coast region, where week-over-week prices declined 2.1 cents.
For state-by-state diesel prices, updated daily, click here.
Several news services reported today, April 1, that owner-operators across the country had pulled their rigs off the road, and others had slowed to a crawl on major highways, in a loosely organized protest of high diesel prices.
Some truckers, on CB radios and trucking websites, had called for a strike today, saying the action might pressure President Bush to stabilize prices by using the nation’s oil reserves. But the protests appeared to be scattered because trucking companies were not on board and there did not appear to be any central coordination.
