States offer more regs relief amid low diesel inventories, high prices

Dyed diesel, weight limit relief granted for Nebraska ag haulers

The Diesel Price Crisis Has No Easy Fix

Washington is trying everything from oil-reserve releases to longer driving hours for fuel haulers. None addresses all the forces keeping diesel prices high.

Deborah Lockridge

When diesel prices first shot up after the U.S. attacked Iran, many expected the spike to be short-lived. Instead, the war has dragged on, and the fuel market has only gotten more complicated.

Oil may (or may not) be moving through the Strait of Hormuz, but other shipping routes are threatened, tankers are in short supply, refineries are stretched thin, and Russian diesel supplies have been disrupted.

Despite the administration’s promises to lower prices, there’s no quick fix.

National diesel prices hit a new record of $6.51 on September 21, according to AAA.

The status of U.S.-Iran negotiations seems to change almost daily. It doesn’t help that President Trump often appears to announce major policy developments in social media posts, only for Iran to dispute his version of events.

Even the basic question of whether the Strait of Hormuz is “open” has no simple answer. The United States says it is. Iran says it will not fully reopen the waterway until its conditions are met.

As the Washington Post put it, “In a cacophony of data, claims and assertions, the Trumpadministration figures vary significantly from those compiled by commercial maritime tracking organizations.”

What we said in June: Trucking Should Prepare for Long Siege of High Fuel Prices

The U.S. military says it has cleared mines, established a protected corridor, and helped move significant oil volumes through the strait. But Reuters estimates that flows remain about one-third below prewar levels. Some vessels are traveling under military protection, during limited transit windows or with their tracking systems turned off.

In other words, oil is moving — but hardly under normal conditions.

Meanwhile, attacks on Saudi Arabia’s East-West pipeline and growing Houthi influence near the Bab al-Mandab Strait threaten routes designed to bypass Hormuz.

The latest wrinkle is a shortage of the giant ocean tankers that are needed to transport the oil. According to the Wall Street Journal, the shipping cost recently rose to about a quarter of the price of the crude itself. Normally, those costs are a small fraction of the value of a ship full of crude oil.

Washington Has Few Quick Fixes For Diesel Prices

With no clear end to the war in sight, the federal government is looking for other ways to address high fuel prices, but few seem likely to give short-term relief from record diesel prices.

Releases from the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reservedidn’t appear to have much effect on prices. Earlier this month, the reserve was down to 285 million barrels, nearly 30% below its level a year earlier and close to its lowest point since 1983.

The administration temporarily waived the Jones Act, allowing foreign vessels to carry oil and refined fuels between U.S. ports. Trump extended that waiver in August, with the White House saying it had increased domestic deliveries of gasoline, diesel and jet fuel.

Putting diesel fuel in the tank is getting ever more painful as diesel prices continue to set records.

The measure makes fuel easier and potentially cheaper to move within the country, but analysts expect only a modest effect on pump prices.

The White House negotiated access to Venezuelan oil, including rights to buy part of the production from 17 oil fields at cost. The administration says some of that crude could reach U.S. refineries by the end of 2026, with larger volumes in 2027. But that is not an immediate answer.

Trump has pushed Russia and Ukraine to stop attacking each other’s energy infrastructure. The administration hopes that protecting Russian refineries could restore diesel exports and ease the global shortage, but no durable agreement appears to be in place.

It is considering using the Defense Production Act, regulatory changes, faster permitting and federal investment to expand or improve U.S. refineries. No final plan had been announced as of Sept. 11, and building significant new capacity would take time.

President Trump’s recent emergency waiver relaxing hours-of-service requirements for drivers delivering fuel won’t solve the underlying problem.

The 90-day waiver from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration went into effect on September 16 and will expire on December 16. According to the FMCSA, drivers must still take a six-hour break in the sleeper berth at least once during a 24-hour period, or an eight-hour break if they are in a day cab.

But this isn’t like hurricane relief, where fuel is needed urgently in disaster-devastated areas to run hospital generators and fuel emergency vehicles. Longer driving hours can’t suddenly produce more diesel or lower the cost of crude oil, refining and ocean transportation.

More Crude Doesn’t Mean More Diesel

Getting crude oil out of the Persian Gulf is only part of the problem. More crude won’t do much for diesel prices if refineries can’t turn it into fuel fast enough. U.S. refineries have been running near full capacity, leaving little room to quickly increase diesel production.

But while Russia and the Persian Gulf countries have been building refineries in the past 10 years in pursuit of a bigger share of the global diesel market, the last major U.S. refinery was built in the 1970s.

50 Ways Fleets Can Cut Fuel Costs Now — Without Buying New Trucks

The United States had 130 operable refineries at the beginning of 2026. Several smaller facilities have opened in recent years, including a 45,000-barrel-per-day plant in Galveston in 2022. But the newest large, full-service refinery remains Marathon’s Garyville, Louisiana, facility, which began operating in 1977.

Refineries are very much a “not in my backyard” kind of development. So most new U.S. capacity has come from expanding existing plants. That is generally faster and less contentious than permitting and building a refinery from scratch — but it also limits how quickly the industry can respond to a global diesel shortage.

Meanwhile, U.S. diesel supplies are getting tighter. EIA expects distillate inventories to fall below 100 million barrels and remain below the five-year low through the end of 2026 and most of 2027. The agency says high exports, lower international refinery production and seasonal refinery maintenance will continue putting pressure on diesel prices.

Should the U.S. Be Exporting Diesel Fuel?

Between the U.S.-Iran conflict and the ongoing war between Ukraine and Russia, global markets are looking to the U.S. for diesel and other refined products.

That’s why some politicians are calling for a ban on diesel exports. Although this was something the White House initially rejected, it’s now considering it.

As WSJ reported, a U.S. ban on diesel exports would likely send prices for the rest of the world soaring. And other big diesel exporters such as China and India might follow suit.

Diesel Price Spike Shortens Payback for Natural Gas Trucks, Report Says

While the U.S. banned crude oil exports from 1975 until 2015, refined products like diesel and gasoline were legal to export.

Although diesel was exported for decades, it took the 2006 Clean Diesel Fuel standard, which required sulfur in diesel to be reduced, to make U.S. diesel competitive abroad. Around 2010, the U.S. transitioned into an overall net exporter of petroleum products.

U.S. exports of ultralow-sulfur distillate rose from 32.8 million barrels in January to 47.7 million in May before falling to 36.9 million in June, the latest month available in EIA’s data.

That does not necessarily mean all of it was on-road diesel, but it illustrates how important U.S. refineries have become to the global distillate market.

And an export ban might not lower prices as much as proponents expect.

U.S. refineries are concentrated on the Gulf Coast and set up to serve export markets. Restricting exports could increase domestic supply, but it also could reduce refinery production if plants can’t profitably redirect all that fuel to U.S. markets.

Many of the Trump administration’s “energy dominance” policies are designed to increase crude-oil production. But today’s diesel crunch isn’t just about crude. It is also about disrupted refinery output, scarce tankers, high shipping costs and a global diesel trade thrown out of balance. Producing more U.S. oil alone won’t quickly fix any of that. Click on following link to see video  “High Diesel Prices? 3 Ways Fleets Can Save Fuel” https://youtu.be/W5j9jIBsdUo

Nuclear verdicts in trucking nearly triple in 2025

Awards reached $3.4 billion across 12 cases in 2025, up from $1.4 billion in 2024

Marathon said juries in Texas, California, Florida and Maryland consistently produced large awards, based on 2025 totals. (adamkaz/Getty Images)

Noel Fletcher

Nuclear verdicts against the trucking and automotive industries nearly tripled to $3.4 billion in 2025 as researchers found settlements were becoming harder to reach and juries were more inclined to award larger damages.

Overall, about 200 juries last year delivered verdicts of $10 million or more — the threshold for so-called “nuclear” verdicts — totaling $25.6 billion, a 40.7% increase from 2024.

The findings are detailed in the 2026 edition of Marathon Strategies’ annual report, Corporate Verdicts Go Thermonuclear. The New York-based public relations firm specializes in crisis and issues management.

“For the second consecutive year, juries returned more than 40 ‘thermonuclear’ verdicts exceeding $100 million, including four awards topping $1 billion,” Marathon said. The report defines thermonuclear verdicts as those exceeding $100 million.

The trucking and automotive industries remained among the sectors most affected by large civil litigation awards.

“The sum of verdicts against the trucking and automotive industries nearly tripled in 2025, rising to 12 cases for $3.4 billion, compared with 15 cases for $1.4 billion in 2024,” the report stated. “Marathon’s research has found that these sectors are among the top targets of nuclear verdicts, mainly in wrongful-death and negligence cases.”

The first nuclear verdict involving autonomous vehicle technology litigation occurred last year. A Miami jury awarded $243 million in damages after determining car and truck manufacturer Tesla was partially liable for a fatal crash involving its Autopilot driver-assistance technology.

Marathon said the case could establish legal precedents as more manufacturers incorporate automation into their products, particularly because liability in motor vehicle cases involving corporate defendants often is shared between the company and the vehicle operator.

The 2025 jury awards set a record for the highest annual total since Marathon began publishing the report in 2023. Beverage companies faced the largest total awards at $3.8 billion, followed by pharmaceutical and automotive companies at $2.9 billion each. More than two dozen industries were hit with at least $100 million in nuclear verdicts.

Phil Singer, Marathon’s founder and CEO, said the rise in nuclear verdicts has expanded beyond a narrow group of industries and is occurring in a growing number of jurisdictions.

“These cases are becoming broader, more frequent and increasingly difficult for companies to predict or prepare for. Organizations across virtually every sector should view this as a long-term shift in litigation risk, one that requires not only stronger legal strategies, but also proactive communications planning to mitigate the significant reputational damage these cases can inflict,” Singer said.

Marathon said juries in Texas ($3.4 billion), California ($2.6 billion), Florida ($2.5 billion) and Maryland ($1.7 billion) consistently produced large awards, based on 2025 totals.

Despite Florida’s sweeping tort reform legislation enacted in 2023 to curb frivolous lawsuits, juries there continue to address a record wave of 280,122 civil suits filed before that legislation — House Bill 837 — took effect.

Singer told Transport Topics that Marathon researchers determined most nuclear verdict awards in Florida during 2025 stemmed from 16 of the 20 lawsuits that were already “in the pipeline” before March 24, 2023, when Gov. Ron DeSantis signed the bill into law.

“With some exceptions, the reforms apply to causes of action filed after that effective date. Looking over the cases, we’re looking at an average of 4.4 years to reach a verdict among that set. There could obviously be more cases in the pipeline filed prior to 2023. We’ve seen some cases take a decade or more to reach a verdict, so there will likely be years of lag in assessing how effective Florida’s legislation will be,” he said.

Researchers attributed larger awards to younger jurors, who tend to be more skeptical of U.S. corporations and place greater weight on ethical business issues.

“A shift toward ‘juror activism’ may also become further pronounced as Gen Z and Millennials comprise a larger share of juries,” the report said. “Surveys of corporate counsels indicate that reaching pretrial settlements has become more difficult due to increasing legal costs, regulatory changes and high settlement demands.”

ATRI opens survey on costs, benefits of HOS, ELD regs

The American Transportation Research Institute (ATRI) is beginning research to develop a framework for assessing the impacts of trucking industry regulations.

The framework development will initially be focused on “Assessing the Costs and Benefits of Hours-of-Service (HOS) and the Electronic Logging Device (ELD) Mandate.”

Industry stakeholders, including motor carriers, truck drivers, and law enforcement, are all encouraged to take the HOS/ELD survey here.

ATRI said its Research Advisory Committee recognized a need to develop a framework for assessing the costs and benefits of regulations governing the trucking industry and identified the framework as a top priority in 2026. The research survey launches as the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration pursues a real-world test of possible new flexibilities in the hours regs with participating drivers and carriers.

In the HOS/ELD survey, respondents will assess the overall HOS rules, the ELD mandate, and nine specific provisions of the two regulations:

• 11-hour driving limit (HOS)
• 14-hour on-duty limit (HOS)
• 30-minute break requirement (HOS)
• 60/70-hour limit (HOS)
• Split-sleeper berth provision (HOS)
• Personal conveyance (HOS)
• Device registration and certification requirements (ELD)
• Record backup and security requirements (ELD)
• 8-day paper log exemption (ELD)

Respondents will be asked to assess the regulations according to their safety benefit and cost of compliance. The survey will also ask respondents for recommended changes to each of the provisions to improve their safety benefit and lower the cost of compliance, providing a roadmap for policy improvements.

As noted, this first phase and data collection is focused on the HOS and ELD regulations, but the emerging benefit-cost framework is intended to be applied to and evaluate other trucking regulations across safety, workforce, and the environment.

Interested participants are asked to respond by Oct. 16. All responses will be kept entirely confidential, and data will only be presented in an aggregated, anonymized format. 

FMCSA shores up state DataQ responsibilities

Land Line Media

Getting dinged during a roadside inspection is bad enough. But for truckers who say they aren’t guilty of the violation, it has been a struggle with due process.

Recourse for disputed violations reported to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s CSA Safety Measurement System has long been criticized by truckers. Before the agency implemented the DataQ process, the system set officers and agencies issuing the violations to serve as judge and jury. Successfully challenging a violation at that point was a chore.

The DataQ process was implemented to give truck drivers and law enforcement agencies a framework for contesting violations. As with anything state-to-state, agency-to-agency, how that process was executed varied widely.

In response to those criticisms, FMCSA announced in April new requirements on states handling DataQ challenges.

“Driven by valuable feedback from both industry stakeholders and State partners. These revisions to the Request for Data Review process aim to improve the impartiality, timeliness and fairness in the data review process, ensuring proper due process for drivers,” an alert said, noting the changes are now in effect.

Two key changes include:

• Multi-Level Reviews: Ensure thorough and consistent independent evaluation of requests within state agencies, ensuring proper due process for drivers and motor carriers.
• Standardized Timelines: Clear guidelines for responding to requests, handling appeals and issuing final decisions, giving requestors peace of mind that their request will be processed in a timely manner.

The announcement stating that the requirements detailed in an April notice issued by FMCSA are now in effect wasn’t just new directives on paper. Actual system changes in the DataQ process are now in effect.

This update includes:

• Streamlined “Request Details” header focusing on the key information about the request, requestor and reviewing agency.
• New “Take Action” section with a menu of actions to make it easier to move a request through the expanded review process.
• New action to de-escalate a review to a previous review stage when new information is being presented.
• Indicators to make it clear which stage of review a request is in at all times.
• “Ready to Submit” review panel that allows you to confirm updates to the request before you submit them.
• Re-designed “Response History” makes it easier to track actions and correspondence throughout the request process.
• Expanded options to customize your list of requests in MyDataQs, including sorting by review stage and “USDOT# to Consider” (indicates carriers that may be relevant to the request).

DataQs not just for motor carriers

Company drivers and even owner-operators leased to a motor carrier are not restricted from filing their own DataQ challenges.

Violations reported to FMCSA appear both on motor carrier Safety Measurement Systems ratings and on drivers’ records, which come into play during the Pre-Employment Screening process. The DataQ system does require setting up an account for drivers to contest violations.

Members of the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association can get help in filing the DataQ challenge by calling 816-229-5791.

Drivers who are punching into these driver records maintained by FMCSA can check out what may or may not be included in those records. They have two options to get those records.

The first is to visit the FMCSA’s Pre-Employment Screening Program website at psp.fmcsa.dot.gov to request a copy of your PSP report for a fee. You will be able to access the downloadable report instantly, and it includes your driver information such as your FMCSA reportable crash and inspection history.

The second option, which will definitely take longer, is to visit the Freedom of Information Act Website at fmcsa.dot.gov/foia to request a copy of your commercial driving history for free. The information will be mailed to you and includes your FMCSA reportable crash and inspection history.

What’s Coming: Rulemakings on the 2026 Federal Regulatory Agenda

Scopelitis

Each year, the U.S. Department of Transportation lays out its plans through the Unified Agenda of Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions. The newly announced Agency Rule List points to a busy slate of pending FMCSA and NHTSA actions—most still in the proposed-rule stage—with several NPRMs or final actions projected over the next several months. For trucking, the agenda is less a single policy shift than a roadmap of where compliance expectations, equipment planning, driver qualification, carrier entry, data systems, broker practices, and paperwork reduction may be headed.

Vehicle Technology and Automation

The headline equipment issue remains the joint FMCSA–NHTSA Automatic Emergency Braking supplemental proposal. The agencies are still pursuing a requirement for factory-installed AEB and electronic stability control on new Class 7 and 8 trucks, with medium-duty vehicles following later. NHTSA has estimated that heavy vehicles equipped with AEB ESC will prevent 19,118 crashes, save 155 lives, and prevent 8,814 injuries annually. Related NHTSA items would modernize FMVSS No. 102 for ADS-equipped vehicles without traditional manual controls, and continue analyzing comments on the 2023 side underride guard advance notice of proposed rulemaking.

FMCSA’s Safe Integration of ADS-Equipped CMVs rulemaking is a key strategic item for the administration and industry. With an NPRM slated for August 2026, it would amend the FMCSRs to set operational safety requirements for autonomous CMVs in interstate commerce. However, given the connection to NHTSA’s FMVSS modernization work, this could move more slowly due to the transformational nature of these rules and the likelihood of many comments submitted to the Docket. Nevertheless, it remains one of the highest-stakes issues on the agenda because it will shape how the federal rules will treat automated trucks in real-world interstate operations.

Drivers and Workforce

The English Language Proficiency, Out of Service Criteria rulemaking would codify ELP non-compliance under 49 CFR § 391.11(b)(2) as an out-of-service violation, moving beyond the current enforcement-policy approach and implementing Congress’s direction in the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2026. FMCSA also added Entry-Level Driver Training to the agenda, with a proposal intended to strengthen standards for Training Provider Registry listing after the agency identified non-compliance among certain providers. The National Registry of Certified Medical Examiners proposal would create an administrative removal process for examiners who fail continued-listing requirements, while the CDLIS Fees proposal would allow AAMVA to collect user fees from state licensing agencies for access to its Commercial Driver License Information System.

Carrier Entry, ELDs, and Safety Data

FMCSA is also revisiting how carriers enter the industry. The New Entrant Safety Assurance rulemaking would tighten the process by which an applicant carrier earns operating authority, including consideration of a proficiency examination before interstate authority is granted. The practical goal is to raise the bar at entry rather than relying only on the initial 18-month monitoring period and safety audit to identify gaps after a carrier is already operating.

The ELD Revisions rulemaking would reopen the ELD mandate to streamline regulatory text, update device specifications, and make technical fixes aimed at improving usability. FMCSA also plans an NPRM revising how carriers’ safety fitness is assessed, building on the pending CSA/Safety Measurement System overhaul that groups hundreds of violation types into a smaller set of categories.

Brokers

Two broker rulemakings deserve close attention. The long-awaited Transparency in Property Broker Transactions proposal would clarify when and how brokers must provide transaction records to transacting parties upon request. Separately, the new Standards for Broker and Freight Forwarder Qualifications/Knowledge rulemaking would implement MAP-21 requirements that require brokers and freight forwarders to employ an officer with either 3 years of relevant experience or satisfactory evidence of knowledge of applicable rules, regulations, and industry practices.

The Deregulatory Side

The agenda also reflects a sustained deregulatory push. Under the President’s Executive Order 14192 and DOT’s regulatory-budget framework, the administration is pursuing broad regulatory and cost reductions, and trucking was specifically included in Secretary Duffy’s May 2025 package of deregulatory actions across FHWA, NHTSA, and FMCSA. Some items have already been finalized, including rescission of the in-cab ELD operator’s manual requirement, removal of the CDL self-reporting requirement, and a change allowing carriers to return completed roadside inspection forms only to states that request them. Fleets should still watch for additional proposals aimed at trimming paperwork and procedural requirements that the agency views as creating unnecessary violations without a corresponding safety benefit.

The Bottom Line

The agenda gives fleets an early look at where compliance pressure and operational planning may converge. AEB could reshape capital decisions, maintenance expectations, and inspections. FMCSA enforcement rules and initiatives like updates to driver-qualification rules (including ELP out-of-service treatment and the recently finalized non-domiciled CDL integrity rules), ELDT oversight, and medical-examiner accountability will tighten who can enter and remain in the driver pool. New Entrant changes raise the bar for carriers, while broker transparency and qualification rules reshape the middle of the freight transaction. ELD revisions, safety-fitness changes, and ADS requirements may not all move at the same pace, but each has practical implications. The takeaway is simple: read the agenda early, weigh in during comment periods, and build compliance into the budget before enforcement arrives.