If you buy diesel in bulk, the national average is not your price. The EIA publishes a separate on-highway diesel average for each region, and the spread between the cheapest and the most expensive one is large enough to change which quote you take. Here is how to read that spread, and what it adds up to on one load.
How much does diesel cost in each region?
For the week of October 12, 2026, the EIA’s on-highway diesel averages ran from $5.645 a gallon in the Lower Atlantic to $8.091 in California. The U.S. average that week was $6.179. These are retail pump prices, and the EIA states that they include all taxes.
| Region (week of October 12, 2026) | $/gal | Gap to Gulf Coast | Gap on 8,000 gallons |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lower Atlantic (PADD 1C) | $5.645 | −$0.164 | −$1,312 |
| Gulf Coast (PADD 3) | $5.809 | — | — |
| U.S. average | $6.179 | +$0.370 | +$2,960 |
| Midwest (PADD 2) | $6.259 | +$0.450 | +$3,600 |
| West Coast (PADD 5) | $7.240 | +$1.431 | +$11,448 |
| California | $8.091 | +$2.282 | +$18,256 |
Gap = region minus Gulf Coast. The 8,000-gallon column multiplies the gap by 8,000 and is plainly illustrative: your load size, product and contract will differ. Source: EIA Gasoline and Diesel Fuel Update, release of October 14, 2026.
The table uses the Gulf Coast as the baseline; the Lower Atlantic was lower still that week.
Is a regional pump price the same as the price I pay?
No. A pump average includes the retailer’s margin and all taxes, so part of a regional gap can be tax and not product. A bulk buyer lifting at a terminal pays a rack price plus an adder, then freight, so your quote is built from different pieces than a pump average and will not match it.
Use the regional table for direction and size. If one region runs $1.43 a gallon above another at the pump, a quote that tries to tell you the two terminals’ product costs are equal deserves a question. It does not tell you what your quote should be.
When does a distant terminal beat a local one?
When the product saving is larger than the extra freight, measured in the same unit. Convert both to cents per gallon:
- Take the rack-plus quote from each terminal, with the same product and the same lift date.
- Add each terminal’s freight to your site, divided by the gallons the truck carries. A hypothetical $1,800 more in freight on 8,000 gallons is 22.5 cents a gallon (1,800 ÷ 8,000).
- Compare the two delivered totals on the gallons that arrive, not the gallons ordered.
If the cheaper terminal saves 40 cents a gallon at the rack and costs 22.5 cents more in freight, the distant load is 17.5 cents a gallon cheaper in this example. If the rack gap is 15 cents, it is 7.5 cents more expensive, even though its product price looks lower. How freight converts to cents per gallon shows the conversion for 7,500- and 8,500-gallon tankers, and comparing bulk fuel quotes shows how to put quotes of different shapes on the same footing.
Does the regional gap stay the same from week to week?
Not exactly. Between the weeks of September 28 and October 12, 2026, the EIA’s U.S. average fell from $6.382 to $6.179, and the West Coast average fell from $7.357 to $7.240. The Gulf Coast average fell from $5.955 to $5.809. So the West Coast gap to the Gulf Coast was $1.402 the week of September 28 and $1.431 the week of October 12. Every average fell, but not by the same amount, so the gap widened by 2.9 cents a gallon in two weeks, about $232 on an 8,000-gallon load. Re-check the gap before you rely on one quoted weeks earlier.
Check the EIA page on its release day before you commit to a lane. The page lists its next release date at the top.
When you can skip this
If you buy from one nearby terminal under one agreement, the regional table is background reading and the work is in your quote. This comparison matters when you can lift at more than one terminal, when you are weighing a supplier outside your usual area, or when you set a budget for sites in several regions.
How Energy Connect handles it
On Energy Connect, the bill of lading and other delivery documents attached to a load show on that load in your portal. The delivery ticket and the bill of lading are where you check the gallons that actually arrived against the quote you compared.