For the week of Sept. 21, the federal government’s weekly pump survey put the national average for on-highway diesel at $6.529 a gallon. That’s the highest number the series has ever posted, and it clears the old June 2022 peak of about $5.81 by more than 70 cents. Diesel has since eased to $6.199, which is still roughly $2.49 above where it sat a year earlier. In California it’s $8.08. (EIA weekly data)
Gasoline drivers are getting off lighter. Regular averaged $4.354 that same week, so the gap between the two fuels is now about $1.85 a gallon. Normally that gap is well under a dollar. Freight runs on the expensive fuel. eia
The dockets are filling up
The damage is starting to show up in federal bankruptcy court. Globemaster Inc., a Bolingbrook, Illinois carrier, filed for Chapter 11 on Sept. 15 in the Northern District of Illinois and chose the small-business Subchapter V track. Its docket shows the court extended its permission to use cash collateral through Oct. 30, with a hearing set for Oct. 27. (Globemaster docket) Out west, RP Hay Hauling LLC filed a Chapter 11 petition in Arizona on Sept. 10. (Arizona filings) Illinois Northern Bankruptcy Court
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A bankruptcy docket doesn’t come with a cause of death, and blaming every filing purely on fuel would be lazy. Soft freight rates, equipment loans and insurance premiums all pile on. But diesel is the cost that moved $2.49 a gallon in twelve months, and the math on that is brutal.
Take a long-haul tractor running 100,000 miles a year. Assume it gets 6.5 mpg, which is a reasonable figure for a loaded Class 8 truck. That’s roughly 15,400 gallons a year, and at today’s year-over-year jump it adds up to about $38,000 in extra fuel per truck. A 40-truck fleet is looking at more than $1.5 million it didn’t budget for.
Fuel surcharges are supposed to absorb that, and many contracts key off EIA’s weekly number (surcharge guidance). But those surcharges reset on a lag, and small carriers working the spot market often have no surcharge clause at all. They pay the new price on Tuesday and get paid at the old rate 30 days later.
Why Subchapter V, and why the Oct. 30 date matters
Subchapter V is the streamlined lane for smaller businesses. The debtor must file a reorganization plan within 90 days (11 U.S.C. § 1189). Filing also triggers the automatic stay (11 U.S.C. § 362), which stops lenders from repossessing tractors while the company negotiates.
For a trucking company, “cash collateral” usually means receivables, the money customers owe for loads already delivered. Without court approval to spend it, there’s no money for fuel. That makes deadlines like Globemaster’s Oct. 30 extension the real cliff.
Texas tries red fuel
On Sept. 28, Gov. Greg Abbott declared a statewide disaster over diesel prices. The proclamation allows wider use of dyed diesel on Texas roads, raises weight limits for fuel, agricultural and timber loads, and suspends Texas Low Emission Diesel rules as far as the EPA allows. Abbott also asked the EPA to waive federal ultra-low sulfur diesel requirements. “Texas agriculture and freight run on diesel,” Abbott said (governor’s announcement). bicmagazinebicmagazine
Read the fine print before filling up with red fuel. Texas can suspend its own penalties, but it can’t waive the federal ones. The federal diesel excise tax still applies (26 U.S.C. § 4081). Getting caught with dyed fuel in a taxable use carries a federal penalty of $10 a gallon or $1,000, whichever is greater (26 U.S.C. § 6715). Unless the IRS issues its own relief, an interstate carrier that fuels up red in Amarillo is taking a gamble.
What it means for your truck’s hardware
Mechanically, dyed diesel isn’t the villain. Since 2014, EPA rules have required off-road diesel to meet the same 15-ppm ultra-low sulfur standard as highway fuel. (EPA fuel standards) The red dye is a tax marker, not a quality downgrade. A modern truck’s diesel particulate filter and SCR system won’t know the difference. epa
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The EPA waiver request is the part to watch. If it lets higher-sulfur fuel back into the supply, that’s bad news for any 2007-or-newer diesel. Sulfur poisons aftertreatment catalysts and speeds up DPF loading, which means more regens, more downtime and possibly awkward warranty conversations. If you own a late-model pickup or rig, keep your fuel receipts.
Practical takeaways
Shippers and brokers should check a carrier’s authority and insurance status on FMCSA’s SAFER system before tendering a load. Federal minimum liability coverage for general freight is $750,000 (49 CFR 387.9), and a financially stressed fleet is exactly the one where coverage lapses.
Used-truck buyers should expect more lightly used tractors to come up for sale as fleets shrink. Pull the engine data and DPF service history before you buy. If the seller is in bankruptcy, make sure the sale is court-approved so a lender doesn’t show up later with a lien.