Diesel refining margins set a record, and the cost reaches the buyer before any contract reopens
US retail diesel reached $5.688 a gallon, the highest since April and within about thirteen cents of the all time record set in June 2022. Domestic supplies are the lowest ever recorded for this point in the year, and that is with refiners already running near maximum capacity. Harvest and heating season are both still ahead of the market.
- $5.688 US Retail Diesel, Per Gallon
- $5.816 All Time Record, June 2022
- Record Low US Supply For This Season
Price can be hedged and passed through a surcharge; availability cannot. Inventories at their lowest ever level for this point in the year, while refiners already run near maximum, turn fuel from a procurement line into an operations question, and harvest and heating season are both still in front of it. The lever a transport buyer actually owns is route productivity, because the pump price is exogenous and the surcharge is contractual. Payback periods for routing, dispatch and telematics should be recomputed against today's number rather than a trailing average, and the recomputation favours them.