(Gregg Pupecki, Headline USA) The price of a gallon of diesel fuel across the nation has risen to record highs this week, prompting warnings from economists.
US average retail diesel price climbs further, setting a new **record high** of more than $5.25 per gallon, up 70% from a year ago, according to data from the AAA motoring club.
Trucking and farming are going to be badly hit. Fuel surcharges in freight will increase | #OOTT
— Javier Blas (@JavierBlas) April 30, 2022
The Boston Herald reported that the national average for diesel is $5.42 per gallon, compared to $6.10 in Massachusetts. The price doubled from a year ago, when it was only $3 a gallon.
Experts warned that the sharp rise of diesel prices mean higher costs for truckers and higher prices for consumer goods and services.
“It’s just a really bad situation right now,” Mark Schieldrop of AAA Northeast told the Herald. “The diesel prices keep shooting up and up and up.
“We’re in crazy times right now,” he added. “To see diesel prices at $6.10, you have to rub your eyes and take another look. It’s unimaginable right now.”
The same scenario is being played out all across the country.
Diesel reached historic levels this past week in Ohio, where the price of moving everything from food to furniture is rapidly rising, all driven by skyrocketing diesel prices, according to News5 Cleveland.
Diesel has hit a record high. pic.twitter.com/kYL7d83Gqk
— Senator Ted Cruz (@SenTedCruz) May 2, 2022
Truckers are the first in line to take the financial hit, before the prices are passed on to consumers. Fox News interviewed several drivers who expressed concern of things to come.
“We cannot afford to drive our vehicles,” a 20-year-old trucker said.
A gallon of diesel was $5.296 today. Truckers are thinking of calling it Quits. Who can blame them?
— Dissolve Political Bands (@DissolveBands) May 1, 2022
Some truckers will be forced to park their rigs until costs come down, which will hurt the economy and supply chains even more, economists warned, and there does not seem to be much optimism of things changing quickly.
A nine-year veteran of the trucking trade told Fox News that President Biden “needs to get out of office” for inflation to be tamed.
