Skyrocketing diesel costs squeezing US truckers

LOS ANGELES — Rising diesel prices are squeezing the US trucking industry at a critical moment amid the Middle East conflict, forcing independent drivers and large fleets alike to rethink routes, rates and even whether some loads are worth hauling.

Diesel is the lifeblood of freight. When prices rise, trucking feels the shock first, and the rest of the economy soon follows. According to data from the American Automobile Association, the average diesel price in California was $7.53 per gallon ($1.99 per liter) on Monday, while the national average stood at $5.53 per gallon.

"With these diesel prices, we're all in for a world of hurt," independent truck operator T. Stromsted told Xinhua News Agency at a truck stop in Los Angeles.

At a gas station in Monrovia, Los Angeles County, another truck driver, who didn't provide his name, told Xinhua that filling up his rig used to cost about $700 a little over two months ago, but now it exceeds $1,100. "It's hard to make a run, but there's no money in it. It's all because of the war."

Since the United States and Israel launched military operations against Iran at the end of February, the sharp rise in diesel prices has burdened more than 3.5 million truck drivers who transport over 70 percent of the nation's freight.

In California, the largest economy in the United States, where fuel prices already run above the national average due to stricter air quality regulations, the latest surge in diesel gas prices has been especially punishing.

"This is the worst I've seen nationwide since I've been here," said Eric Sauer, chief executive of the California Trucking Association.

"The war in the Middle East is creating real hardship for our members, and that trickles down to everyone," he noted.

A March poll by DAT Freight & Analytics found that 18 percent of surveyed trucking firms had temporarily halted operations due to the fuel spike.

Sauer told Xinhua that smaller operators face painful choices: turning down heavier loads, cutting miles or parking trucks entirely until fuel prices ease.

Some trucking executives warned the broader economic impact could deepen if prices remain elevated.

Broader impact

Some trucking executives warned the broader economic impact could deepen if prices remain elevated.

As the Iran conflict drives prices higher, the US administration's approval rating on the economy has slumped over the past month, according to a new AP-NORC poll.

The findings from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research show President Donald Trump's approval rating on the economy dropped to 30 percent in April from 38 percent in a March AP-NORC poll.

The poll was conducted April 16-20, during which the Strait of Hormuz was reopened by Iran only to be closed again, an example of the whiplash that has characterized the conflict.

Even before the conflict started, the 2026 Global Soft Power Index, released in January by Brand Finance, a global brand evaluation consultancy, showed that the US Soft Power score suffered a steep decline of 4.6 points to 74.9.

An analysis by The New York Times titled "Four Ways Trump's War is Weakening America", said that one of the losses was "America's moral authority".

This view is echoed by Jeffrey Taliaferro, professor and chair of the Department of Political Science at Tufts University.

"Trump's willingness to abandon talks to go to war, and the contradictory rhetoric he has employed throughout the Iran conflict, have weakened the perception of the US as an honest broker," he wrote in an article about how the Iran war has weakened the US.

May Zhou in Houston, Texas, contributed to this story.

Xinhua - Agencies