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Fuels · EIA weekly retail

Diesel (on-highway retail) — what to watch

US on-highway diesel retail is the most direct fuel-cost signal for trucking, field services, construction, and distribution. Surcharge formulas and lane economics key directly off this number. ElementWatch pulls the EIA weekly national average, cross-checks against AAA and the EIA RSS feed, and surfaces what to do about it.

What we track

  • EIA weekly on-highway diesel retail — US national average, $/gal (refreshed every Monday afternoon ET)
  • ULSD crack spreads — wholesale-to-retail transmission lag
  • Gulf Coast refinery utilization — distillate yield, planned/unplanned outages
  • Crude direction — WTI / Brent feed into distillate cracks within days
  • Cross-check vs AAA Gas Prices — backup when EIA feed lags

Who this is for

Fleet operators, 3PLs, regional carriers, field-services teams, distributors, and procurement leaders who set fuel-surcharge formulas or hold fixed-rate contracts. If a 30¢/gal move hits your P&L before your surcharge resets, this is your signal.

Decisions ElementWatch supports

  • When to reprice fuel surcharges or trigger contract escalators
  • When to hold spot vs lock a forward contract
  • How distillate tightness feeds into lane economics over the next 30/60/90 days

Primary sources