If You Own A Diesel, Your Wallet Is About To Start Hurting Even More
Diesel certainly has its perks—torque and efficiency come to mind—but the cost of a gallon of the stuff from the pump certainly isn't one of them.
The national average per gallon of diesel is $5.652 (as of 8/30/26), and that puts it just behind the all-time record for a gallon. That's bad news alone, and it gets worse from there.
According to a recent Reuters report, Russia may extend its fuel export ban to run through the end of September 2026. Why the ban? Well, the war with Ukraine has led to multiple drone attacks on refineries, so Russia feels it should retain all of its stock for itself. Being that Russia is the second largest fuel exporter in the world, that's a bit of a problem.
Things over in the Strait of Hormuz aren't helping. Fewer than 10 fuel vessels are going through the pass every day right now, whereas it's usually over 100 per day when it's fully open.
This all is coming to a head and being felt by people at the bottom of the ladder.
Farmers, for example, are suffering the consequences in their bottom line: An Axios report says that 3-5% of what U.S. farmers produce and (at least intend to) sell is via diesel-run machines. And then the food gets loaded onto diesel transporters, and everyone feels it when they go to buy groceries.
It was only back in May of 2022 that the all-time diesel price record was set, and it seems we're quickly getting back to that realm-- if not surpassing it. Diesel owners will feel it badly, but middle- and low-income households will be hurt financially the most.
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Based in Connecticut, Ross hosts The Hooniverse Podcast. He has been in the off-road world since he was a kid riding in the back of his dad’s YJ Wrangler. He works in marketing by day and in his free time contributes to Hooniverse, AutoGuide, and ATV.com, and in the past has contributed to UTV Driver, ATV Rider, and Everyday Driver. Ross drives a 2018 Lexus GX460 that is an ongoing build project featured on multiple websites and the podcast.
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