Diesel at 5-Year Highs: Why This Surge Isn’t a Blip

Diesel prices are near record highs, and this spike may have more staying power than 2008 or 2022. John Kingston breaks down what’s driving the run-up: refinery outages, Russian supply hits, maintenance season and heating oil demand. For fleets, brokers and shippers, the big issue isn’t just the headline price. It’s how long this lasts — and where fuel surcharges stop covering the pain, especially on empty miles. #DieselPrices #Trucking #FuelSurcharge Ultra-low sulfur diesel futures on the CME settled Monday at what FreightWaves editor-at-large John Kingston called effectively the highest price on record — surpassing the 2008 spike and nearly matching a brief, short-covering-driven one-day peak that followed Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.