American truckers are warning that sky-high diesel prices are eating into their profits and putting pressure on trucking companies to cut routes, raising concerns that some drivers could be forced off the road and the pain could eventually reach Americans at the grocery store. "Fuel prices is going up, the rates are not going up," Miami-based trucker Suave Dorsett told Fox News Digital. "So it's hurting our pockets real bad." The warnings come as the Iran war sends diesel prices soaring, squeezing American truckers even as President Donald Trump predicts oil prices will fall "like a stone" amid expectations that the conflict could soon end.
Drivers told Fox News Digital the damage is already mounting, with routes being cut and smaller operators facing mounting financial pressure. Dorsett is among several truckers who told Fox News Digital that soaring fuel costs are cutting into their earnings and putting pressure on an industry responsible for moving goods across the country, with one driver reporting fewer routes and others warning that smaller operators could eventually be forced to park their rigs. THE OVERLOOKED WAY THE IRAN WAR IS MAKING GROCERIES, AMAZON PACKAGES AND NEW HOMES MORE EXPENSIVE The national average for diesel stood at roughly $6.32 per gallon Monday, according to AAA — up from about $3.69 at the same time last year, a jump of more than 70%.
The surge has also eclipsed the previous record of $5.816 per gallon, set in June 2022 under former President Joe Biden as Russia's invasion of Ukraine sent global energy prices soaring. For Dorsett, who has been driving for nine years, the price at the pump was even steeper. He told Fox News Digital he was seeing diesel at $7.40 per gallon while traveling through Ohio.
Dorsett said the fuel spike comes as truckers are already shouldering a long list of expenses, including diesel exhaust fluid (DEF), which helps reduce harmful emissions, parking, showers, weighing and reweighing loads, repairs and towing. And if diesel prices remain elevated, Dorsett predicted smaller operators will be the first to buckle. BIDEN-ERA ENVIRO RULE ACCUSED OF STRANGLING TRUCKERS, SQUEEZING AMERICANS LANDS ON TRUMP CHOPPING BLOCK "Some of the smaller companies, like the smaller owner ops, would slowly fall off and it's going to create a chain effect," Dorsett said, predicting a "domino effect" that could eventually put pressure on larger carriers.
Tyler Rinaldi, a Louisiana trucker with about a decade of experience who transports hazardous materials and other freight for an LTL company, said he has already seen weekend routes scaled back at his company. "I've seen a lot of routes get cut," Rinaldi told Fox News Digital. "They're not really running like they want to on the weekends right now." "I definitely see a lot change because of it at my company, slowly, but it's starting to be more noticeable," he added.
TRUMP TAPS VETERANS TO FIX ILLEGAL ALIEN TRUCKING PROBLEM PLAGUING US ROADWAYS Rinaldi, who is married with two children, said fewer routes could eventually mean less money coming home. "When they start cutting routes and trying to limit the expenses on what routes they send out," Rinaldi said, "that takes away from the people that work in the company's pockets." Avante Jackson, an 11-year trucking veteran from Charlotte, North Carolina, who transports steel and other construction materials, said rising diesel prices are forcing truckers to take a harder look at whether the money they bring in is enough to keep their businesses running. "If I'm putting all of my profit in the tank," Jackson said, "at the end of the day, what do I have left to keep the doors open?" CUT THE BULL: THE REAL REASON BEEF COSTS SO MUCH — AND WHAT TRUMP IS TRYING TO DO Jackson cautioned against "fear-mongering" about potential shortages, but said a widespread loss of drivers could ultimately reach consumers.
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