The U.S. Energy Information Administration's latest weekly fuel release, published Tuesday, November 3, puts the national average price of on-highway diesel at $6.292 a gallon for Monday, November 2 — down 6 cents from $6.352 a week earlier. It is the first weekly fall after diesel climbed through October, and it comes with a bigger drop on the gasoline side: regular gasoline averaged $4.153 a gallon, down 11.6 cents from $4.269. Both EIA figures include taxes and come from the agency's weekly Monday survey of filling stations.
Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration weekly release, reported Nov. 3
The timing made the numbers an Election Day story as well as a trucking story. AAA put Monday's national gasoline average at $4.17 a gallon — the highest ever recorded heading into an Election Day, above the $3.80 average in the week before the November 8, 2022 midterms, according to reporting by the Financial Times and The Washington Post. Gasoline has now fallen for eight straight days, AAA data show, down about 12 cents in a week and 23 cents in a month, but diesel — the fuel that moves freight, food and farm produce — remains close to its September record of about $6.53 a gallon.
Where diesel costs the most — and the least
The regional spread behind the national average is wide. The U.S. Department of Agriculture's AgTransport weekly dataset, built on the same EIA survey for week 44 of 2026, puts California diesel at $8.076 a gallon — the highest regional price in the country — and the West Coast as a whole at $7.272. The cheapest region was the Lower Atlantic at $5.814. That means a driver fuelling in California pays about $2.26 more for every gallon than a driver fuelling on the Lower Atlantic coast — a gap of roughly $226 on a 100-gallon fill, before any fuel surcharge is calculated.
Source: USDA AgTransport weekly dataset via IndexBox, Nov. 3
What the numbers mean at the pump for truckers
For the Punjabi truckers who make up a large share of this site's U.S. readers, the arithmetic is simple and still painful. At the national average of $6.292, a 100-gallon fill costs $629.20 — the EIA report itself notes a 20-gallon purchase works out to $125.84. In California, the same 100 gallons cost about $807.60. A year ago, diesel averaged $3.62 a gallon on the EIA survey, so a 100-gallon fill cost about $362: today's driver is paying roughly $267 more per fill than a year ago, even after this week's small drop. GasBuddy's station-level data, compiled from more than 12 million price reports, tells the same story from the other side of the pump: its diesel average fell 5.9 cents to $6.281, and the most common diesel price in the country is now $5.99 a gallon.
Source: GasBuddy national fuel price release, Nov. 2
Through October, gasoline and diesel moved in opposite directions: EIA data summarised by Automotive Fleet show regular gasoline fell from $4.35 to $4.27 during the month while diesel rose from $6.20 to $6.35. The November 2 print is the first this autumn in which both fuels fell in the same week.
Why diesel is still near record levels
The reason diesel is not following gasoline down quickly sits in the supply cupboard. The EIA's Weekly Petroleum Status Report for the week ending October 23 showed U.S. distillate inventories — the diesel and heating-oil stockpile — falling by 1.5 million barrels to about 10% below the five-year average for this time of year, while crude oil inventories fell 1.9 million barrels to about 4% below their five-year average. Refineries ran at 92.8% of capacity, down 0.6 points. With winter heating demand ahead and stocks thin, the EIA survey has diesel running 75.5% above its year-ago level and holding a premium of about $2.12 a gallon over regular gasoline.
The oil market behind the pump prices also eased over the weekend. GasBuddy's release noted West Texas Intermediate crude at $102.15 a barrel and Brent at $111.52 in Sunday trading, both lower, and its head of petroleum analysis, Patrick De Haan, described the gasoline drop as the biggest weekly fall in months — while warning in the same release that it may not last. Gasoline inventories, unlike diesel stocks, actually rose by 3.9 million barrels in the EIA's status report, one reason pump prices for cars are falling faster than prices for trucks.
What happens next
The next test comes quickly: the EIA's next weekly release is listed for November 10, and it will show whether the November 2 dip was the start of a slide or a one-week pause before winter. For now, the honest summary for drivers is narrow but real relief — diesel is 6 cents cheaper than last week and gasoline is falling at its fastest pace in months — set against a price that is still about $2.67 a gallon above where diesel stood a year ago, and still within about 24 cents of the all-time record set in September. Freight contracts, fuel surcharges and grocery prices all key off this number, which is why a 6-cent move in either direction matters far beyond the truck stop.