But diesel isn't only crucial for trucking — it's fundamental to international transport as a whole because the engines of heavy-load vehicles like freight trucks, cargo jets and barges run on diesel and its chemical siblings. So when sending products all over the country and the world becomes more expensive, the prices of the products those transport vehicles carry also rises, worsening inflation.

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Diesel prices have long been more expensive than gasoline, well before today's factors including the ongoing war in Ukraine, low refinery capacities and post-Covid energy demand crunched global oil supplies and pushed up prices. But why?

There are three primary reasons for the price discrepancy: the transition to cleaner diesel blends, higher state and federal taxes, and diesel's supply and demand.

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In 2006, the US Environmental Protection Agency began phasing in rules that significantly limited the sulfur content of diesel fuel. The agency did this because aggravated levels of airborne sulfur matter are toxic for both humans and the environment.

But diesel isn't only crucial for trucking — it's fundamental to international transport as a whole because the engines of heavy-load vehicles like freight trucks, cargo jets and barges run on diesel and its chemical siblings. So when sending products all over the country and the world becomes more expensive, the prices of the products those transport vehicles carry also rises, worsening inflation.

*

Diesel prices have long been more expensive than gasoline, well before today's factors including the ongoing war in Ukraine, low refinery capacities and post-Covid energy demand crunched global oil supplies and pushed up prices. But why?

There are three primary reasons for the price discrepancy: the transition to cleaner diesel blends, higher state and federal taxes, and diesel's supply and demand.

*

In 2006, the US Environmental Protection Agency began phasing in rules that significantly limited the sulfur content of diesel fuel. The agency did this because aggravated levels of airborne sulfur matter are toxic for both humans and the environment.