Truckers Are ‘Just Trying to Hang On’ When a Fill-Up Tops $1,000

 

Truckers Are ‘Just Trying to Hang On’ When a Fill-Up Tops $1,000

 

Truckers are among the hardest hit by the soaring cost of diesel fuel. High prices are forcing some to stay on the road for months and others to park their rigs.

 

Credit...Videos by Hilary Swift

By Audra D. S. Burch

Oct. 2, 2026

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/10/02/us/truckers-diesel-costs.html

 

When Sean Howarth started his independent trucking business last year, he made sure to reserve one week a month for his family — a girlfriend and her two children — at home in Miami between three weeks on the road.

Then came the war in Iran, which sent the price of diesel fuel skyrocketing and turned a fill-up into an $1,000-a-tank ordeal. For now, the only way to make ends meet, Mr. Howarth said, is to get on the road and stay there. He has not been home since mid-August. He sleeps in his truck and has missed birthdays, volleyball games and date nights salsa dancing at a local club. He does not plan to return home until the holidays unless diesel prices fall sharply.

“I am just trying to hang on,” he said.

Diesel prices are averaging $6.39 a gallon nationally, up from $3.71 a year ago, according to AAA. The high cost of fuel is battering owner-operator truck drivers, who help deliver food, construction materials, medical supplies, electronics and other goods across the country.

Independent truckers, already dealing with stagnant freight rates, rising expenses, and wafer-thin profit margins, are doing all they can to stay afloat. Some have turned to crowdfunding to raise money for gas and maintenance. Others have simply parked their rigs as they hope for a reprieve.

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The price of diesel fuel has skyrocketed, turning a fill-up into an $1,000-a-tank ordeal. Credit...Hilary Swift for The New York Times

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Lewie Pugh, executive vice president of the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association, which represents more than 135,000 members. Credit...Hilary Swift for The New York Times

“This is crushing to our industry,” said Lewie Pugh, executive vice president of the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association, which represents more than 135,000 members. “When fuel goes up a dollar a gallon at the pump, that’s another $400 per week that they have to spend. That’s a huge, huge hit to a small business trucker.”

Last week, Mr. Howarth said, he hauled a load of construction equipment from Rogers, Minn., to Johnstown, N.Y. With about 800 miles to go, he began the dreaded search for cheap diesel fuel, tapping on a mobile app to identify the best prices in real time. The final cost: $626 to top off for a load that grossed about $1,000. The profit was a fraction of the $5,300 he owes on his monthly truck payment and insurance.

Mr. Howarth often tries to match load drop-offs with nearby pickups to avoid empty miles and increase profits, but each jump in diesel price has felt like a gut punch, he said. He can make the numbers work with enough good-paying loads, but any more fuel spikes could wipe him out. For now, he is limiting jobs to the East Coast and Midwest, avoiding California, where the average cost of diesel is $8.38 a gallon.

“When I started, it cost me $500 to fill my tank, and now it’s $950 or $1,100-plus, depending on where I am in the country,” said Mr. Howarth, 36, who worked for a trucking company before starting his own business. “Right when things are starting to seem a little easier and go in the right direction, the fuel costs go through the roof.”

Diesel prices are averaging $6.39 a gallon, up from $3.71 a year ago.

Q&A

Sept. 2, 2026

 

For many Americans, the rising price of regular gasoline is a grim reminder of the painfully expensive cost of living. But diesel prices reverberate beyond the gas tank to consumer goods trucked from ports and factories, agricultural products harvested by diesel-powered machinery, even the mail. Fuel supplies were disrupted not only by the war in Iran but by Ukraine’s attacks on Russian diesel refineries in response to Russia’s missile strikes on its cities.

Republicans, particularly those in close midterm races, are looking for ways to tamp down bubbling voter anger by calling for an end to the war and a ban on diesel exports. On Tuesday, Gov. Brian Kemp of Georgia, who would like another Republican, Rick Jackson, to succeed him when he retires this year, became the latest state leader to suspend gas taxes temporarily.

Taylor Rogers, a White House spokeswoman, said President Trump met with refiners at the White House to try to find ways to expand refining capacity to bring prices down. She added, “As the U.S. continues to maintain full control of the Strait of Hormuz, oil and gas prices will fall back to pre-conflict levels.”

Energy Secretary Chris Wright said this week on Fox News Channel that he intends to ask European countries to release strategic diesel reserves to draw down prices.

“There’s a very good chance we have hit peak prices,” he said. “We are almost surely going to see diesel prices decline.”

For truckers, a price drop cannot come fast enough. Mr. Pugh, who has been driving trucks for more than 25 years, said that about 90 percent of all trucking companies are small businesses and that many are forced to float costs until they get paid 30 to 90 days later. Most negotiate with a broker on the pay for each run, working “load to load.” They can’t raise their rates when fuel spikes in the same way their larger competitors can, he said.

The situation has set social media ablaze. Truckers have posted videos from gas stations and truck stops as fill-ups top $1,000. In one TikTok clip, an exasperated trucker standing next to his rig said the high cost effectively “takes food out of the mouths of your children.”

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Fuel supplies were disrupted not only by the war in Iran but by Ukraine’s attacks on Russian diesel refineries to answer Russia’s missile strikes on its cities. Credit...Hilary Swift for The New York Times

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Independent truckers, already dealing with stagnant freight rates, rising expenses, and wafer-thin profit margins, are doing all they can to stay afloat. Credit...Hilary Swift for The New York Times

For about two years, Renardo Harmon has subcontracted with a small Alabama-based carrier to haul dry goods to stores such as Dollar General, Big Lots and Roses Discount Stores across the Southeast.

Mr. Harmon makes a flat rate of around $2.40 a mile and covers his own expenses, including diesel fuel, maintenance and insurance. It now costs him $900 to $1,000 to fill his tank, double the pre-Iran war price.

“These high diesel costs are trickling down to my house expenses, my rent, my groceries,” said Mr. Harmon, 40, of Atlanta. “If I am not making a profit, than I am not going to be able to afford my rent or make payments on my car.”

“At $3 to $4 a gallon, you can survive,” he continued. “But if the prices don’t drop, a lot of us might be forced to suspend operations until things get better,” he said, adding that he is not sure whether to blame “the government or the oil refineries.”

“What I know for sure, is that it doesn’t have to be this way,” he said. “We should be able to make a decent living.”

Kirsten Noyes and Alain Delaqueriere contributed research.

Audra D. S. Burch is a national reporter, based in South Florida and Atlanta, writing about race and identity around the country.