Diesel’s fuel surcharge benchmark is up, even as futures suddenly drop

Sep 19, 2023 at 03:08 PM CST
The diesel market is being pulled in all different directions as evidenced by developments over just the past few days. On Monday, the Department of Energy/Energy Information Administration average weekly retail price increased 9.3 cents a gallon to $4.633. It’s the highest price since Dec. 12, when the price was $4.754 a gallon. That price is used as the basis for most fuel surcharges. The price is up 86.6 cents a gallon since a recent low on July 3. But the increase is a perfect example of the retail market lagging the futures and wholesale markets, in this case by a considerable amount.

Sep 19, 2023 at 03:08 PM CST

The diesel market is being pulled in all different directions as evidenced by developments over just the past few days.

On Monday, the Department of Energy/Energy Information Administration average weekly retail price increased 9.3 cents a gallon to $4.633. It’s the highest price since Dec. 12, when the price was $4.754 a gallon. That price is used as the basis for most fuel surcharges.

The price is up 86.6 cents a gallon since a recent low on July 3. But the increase is a perfect example of the retail market lagging the futures and wholesale markets, in this case by a considerable amount.