When President Trump announced on Oct. 9 that Russian diesel would flow back to world markets, he named who it was for: “Lower prices for Americans, especially our Great Farmers, Ranchers, and Truckers, is my Greatest Priority,” he wrote, according to the Associated Press. In California, which the San Francisco Chronicle reported has the highest diesel price in the country, those same truckers and growers were already deep into a costly season.
Where it stands: For California truckers diesel cost $8.3934 a gallon on Oct. 13 by AAA’s statewide average, close to the state record of $8.4387 set Sept. 22. The federal weekly survey for Oct. 5 had California at 8.082 dollars a gallon. The accounts below come from the people paying those bills, as reported by California newsrooms since spring.
California truckers diesel math, one tank at a time
For California truckers diesel above $8 a gallon has turned every fill-up into a calculation. At a truck stop in Castaic, in northern Los Angeles County, FOX 11 found drivers paying $8.04 a gallon on credit. One driver told the station he earned $2,000 for a load and spent about $1,400 of it on fuel. Oscar Escobar, an independent driver, said some colleagues had parked their rigs because they could no longer afford to run them.
In the Valley, the story gets told in tanks. Manuel Cunha Jr., president of the Nisei Farmers League in Fresno, described to KVPR a friend hauling a load to New York: “He has two diesel tanks on each side of the truck, 150-gallon tanks, and he paid $1,255 a tank.”
The national truckers’ groups put the pain in general terms. Todd Spencer, head of the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association, told FleetOwner that “Every $1 increase per gallon in fuel costs our members around $400 more per week.” Henry Hanscom of the American Trucking Associations told Newsweek in September that diesel “is one of trucking’s largest operating expenses,” and that there is “no overnight policy fix.”
Why small carriers feel it first
Big carriers and small ones do not absorb fuel spikes the same way. Most freight contracts carry a fuel surcharge, and the Los Angeles Times explained in April that the fee is pegged to “a weekly diesel price index,” so it trails the pump. Large fleets can lean on long-term contracts. Smaller ones, the paper reported, are often paid a flat rate with no assurance they will recover what they spend at the pump.
Sukhdeep Singh, who runs Cali Brothers Truck Lines in Merced County, told the Times that his weekly fuel bill had climbed from $80,000 to $130,000, even with 15 trucks sitting idle. Greg Dubuque of Liberty Linehaul West, which runs routes from Los Angeles to Denver, said his drivers were told to fill up elsewhere when they could: “Where we’re trying to avoid buying fuel is here in the state of California.”
“It’s got a tremendous impact on the industry,” Eric Sauer, chief executive of the California Trucking Association, told the paper. Those interviews came in April, when California diesel was near $7.75; prices are higher now.
Central Valley farms at harvest
The spike landed in the busiest weeks of the farm year. Harvest means tractors, shakers, sprayers and trucks running all day, and growers have little say over what their crops will fetch.
| Grower or group | What they reported | Outlet, date |
|---|---|---|
| James Chinchiolo, Linden walnuts | $27,000 on fuel last year; expects $10,000 more this year | SF Chronicle, Sept. 19 |
| Same farm, ripple costs | Estimates $30,000 to $50,000 all told | SF Chronicle, Sept. 19 |
| Walnut shaker contractor | Raising its prices by nearly 20% | SF Chronicle, Sept. 19 |
| Greg Markarian, Fresno County grower and hauler | About $300,000 on diesel so far this year; shipping rates up 10% | ABC30, Sept. 16 |
| Nisei Farmers League | Growers cutting back on field work | KVPR, Oct. 8 |
Chinchiolo, who also leads the San Joaquin County Farm Bureau, told the Chronicle he also worries that trucking firms and fertilizer suppliers, which run on diesel too, will raise what they charge him. Ned Coe of the California Farm Bureau, who ranches in Modoc County, said he was “anticipating some rather large livestock trucking costs,” a problem he said cuts across crops from alfalfa and hay to potatoes.
Fruit growers face the shipping side. Casey Creamer of the California Fresh Fruit Association told the Chronicle that trucking could be the biggest cost, because much of the state’s peach, plum and grape crop is sold back East. Markarian, who buys diesel by the truckload, told ABC30 he spends close to $50,000 every eight to 10 days. Cunha told KVPR that farmers are “cutting back on various cultural activities” because the fuel is so expensive.
The tax gap between farm diesel and road diesel
Farmers do get one break. Diesel burned off-road carries a lower state tax than fuel for trucks and cars, the Chronicle noted. California’s tax agency spells out the difference for July 2026 through June 2027.
| Diesel use | California sales tax rate | State excise |
|---|---|---|
| On-highway (trucks, pickups) | 13.00% | $0.482 per gallon |
| Qualified agricultural use | 2.25% | Dyed diesel exempt unless used on a highway |
District taxes apply on top of both sales tax rates. The CDTFA also states that dyed diesel is exempt from excise tax unless it is used on a highway. A truck burning fuel on public roads pays the full road rate.
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What Sacramento and Washington have done
The state’s response so far has been oversight rather than tax relief. California’s Division of Petroleum Market Oversight issued an enforcement bulletin on March 19 warning sellers not to raise prices beyond their rising costs, and its investigators contacted about 20 of the highest-priced gasoline stations. In a June 12 letter to Gov. Gavin Newsom, the division singled out sharp, lasting price jumps in the privately assessed spot market for petroleum diesel, which it said pushed up retail prices across the state.
Calls to suspend the state’s fuel excise tax came from the governor’s race in March, when Democrats Matt Mahan and Antonio Villaraigosa joined Republicans in urging the Legislature to pause it, NBC Los Angeles reported. That debate centered on the gasoline tax. Newsom’s office answered that gas taxes are fixed costs with “nothing to do with the price spikes that Americans are experiencing.” We found no state action since then to cut diesel taxes.
In Washington, Mr. Trump signed an executive order on Oct. 5 that, according to FleetOwner, opens untaxed red-dyed diesel to truck fleets and drivers until the year is out. OOIDA called it “minimal relief.” Four days later came the Russia announcement. For how that sanctions move compares with what sets California pump prices, see our explainer on California diesel prices and the Russian diesel deal.
Is relief coming from the Russian diesel?
Traders did not price any in. On Oct. 13, U.S. diesel futures were up 5% by midday, NBC News reported. Energy analyst Tom Kloza told the network the move showed the market was “clearly not believing that Russian oil is on the way.”
On Oct. 13, AAA’s California diesel average stood at $8.3934 a gallon.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much are California truckers paying for diesel?
The statewide AAA average on Oct. 13 was $8.3934 a gallon. FOX 11 found drivers at a Castaic truck stop paying $8.04 a gallon on credit, and one driver said fuel took about $1,400 of a $2,000 load.
Do California farmers pay less tax on diesel?
Yes, for qualified agricultural use. The state sales tax rate on that diesel is 2.25% versus 13.00% for road diesel, and dyed diesel used off-road is exempt from the state excise tax.
How are high diesel prices affecting California farms?
Growers told the SF Chronicle, ABC30 and KVPR of higher harvest fuel bills, contractors raising prices, higher trucking costs to ship crops, and cutbacks in field work. One Linden walnut farm expects $10,000 more in fuel this year.
Has California suspended its diesel tax?
No. Some candidates for governor called in March for a pause in the fuel excise tax, but Newsom’s office defended the tax, and we found no state action to cut diesel taxes. The state has focused on price oversight.
What is the red-dyed diesel order?
It is a federal executive order, signed Oct. 5, that FleetOwner says opens untaxed dyed diesel to truckers and fleets through year end. The truckers group OOIDA called it minimal relief.
Sources
- AAA Fuel Prices (California) — AAA, Price as of 10/13/26
- Gasoline and Diesel Fuel Update — U.S. Energy Information Administration, Diesel release October 6, 2026 (week of Oct. 5)
- Trump says U.S. to get diesel from Russia, relaxing pressure on Moscow to ease prices before midterms — NPR (The Associated Press), October 9, 2026
- Soaring diesel prices are hammering California farmers at exactly the wrong time — San Francisco Chronicle (Saul Pink), Sep 19, 2026
- Rising diesel prices squeeze Central Valley farmers and trucking operators — ABC30 Fresno (KFSN), September 16, 2026
- Immigration sweeps hit Central California’s farming region as diesel costs also worry farmers — KVPR Valley Public Radio, October 8, 2026
- ‘It’s killing everything.’ California’s truckers are buckling under country’s priciest diesel — Los Angeles Times (via Yahoo Finance), April 9, 2026
- Truckers struggle as California diesel prices top $8 a gallon — FOX 11 Los Angeles, Fall 2026 (no date shown on the page)
- Diesel prices fall as experts weigh impact of Trump’s fuel order for trucking — FleetOwner, Oct. 7, 2026
- Are Truckers Going on Strike October 1? What Diesel Prices Say — Newsweek (AI-assisted story), Updated Sept. 22, 2026
- Sales Tax Rates for Motor Vehicle Fuel, Aircraft Jet Fuel, and Diesel Fuel — California Department of Tax and Fee Administration, Rates for July 2026 through June 2027
- California Gasoline and Diesel Market Update — California Energy Commission, Division of Petroleum Market Oversight, June 12, 2026
- Gas tax is blamed for California’s higher gas prices. Will state officials suspend it? — NBC Los Angeles, March 17, 2026
- Diesel futures signal higher prices to come, despite Trump moves — NBC News, Oct. 13, 2026
This article is news reporting and analysis based on the public sources listed above, as they stood on the dates shown. Where officials, lawmakers or analysts disagree, including on whether an action is lawful, their positions are attributed to them; California News Now is not a court and nothing here is legal advice. Facts in a developing story can change.