Gasoline prices may have tumbled, but truckers and others who depend on diesel fuel aren't seeing much relief at the pump. The spread between the price of diesel fuel and gasoline has widened to nearly 88 cents a gallon in this week's Energy Information Administration's price survey. Gas prices plummeted 86.8 cents a gallon to an average of $2.40 from a year ag in this week's government survey, but diesel has come down only 59.2 cents a gallon with the national average at $3.28.
The difference irks truckers and others whose livlihoods depend on diesel. "It means it is costing us more money than it should," says Tom Kruepke Trucking in Jackson, Wis, which operates a fleet of 40 tractor-trailers and other heavy trucks. "This is very unusual."
The spread, which often is more like 30 or 4o cents a gallon during the year, underscores how despite the plummeting price of oil, gasoline and diesel don't always move in tandom.
Part of the reason for the wider price spread is seasonal. Diesel fuel is a distillate that competes with home heating oil in winter. Plus, the energized economy has meant the transportation is burning more fuel moving goods to market. Even though posted prices are high, large transportation companies, like truckers, receive significant bulk discounts that mean they are paying less than posted prices.
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