The national retail average for on highway diesel reached $5.31 a gallon for the week ending July 27, 2026, capping a three week climb that reversed an early summer low.
Diesel bottomed at $4.58 a gallon on July 6 before turning higher. The weekly national average moved to $4.80 on July 13, then $5.13 on July 20, before reaching the current level. The 73 cent move over three weeks ranks among the sharper short run distillate increases of the year.
Three factors drove the increase. Tanker disruption in the Strait of Hormuz constrained crude and product movement out of the Persian Gulf. Russia imposed a diesel export ban covering July 8 through July 31, pulling supply out of the seaborne market. Global refining margins for distillate remained tight through the period, limiting the ability of refiners to respond quickly to the demand signal.
The Energy Information Administration compiles the benchmark from a survey of roughly 400 retail diesel stations across the country each Monday, publishing a weighted national average the same day. That figure carries direct commercial weight in trucking because the majority of broker fuel surcharge clauses reference it as the settlement basis.
The EIA July Short Term Energy Outlook projected a full year 2026 retail diesel average of $4.61 a gallon, with a decline to roughly $4.02 a gallon in 2027. The late July readings run well above that annual projection, which implies either a second half retreat or an upward revision in a later outlook.
Source: HaulerMath - https://haulermath.com/fuel-prices