Michigan average diesel prices surpass $6 for first time
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OTTAWA LAKE, Mich. (WTVG) – Michigan set a new all-time record for average diesel price Sunday, surpassing $6 a gallon for the first time, according to GasBuddy.
The state’s average is up more than 90 cents in just the past five days.
The Great Lakes region is currently seeing the sharpest diesel price hikes in the country.
Prices of $6.39 and $6.19 for a gallon of diesel fuel were posted Sunday in Ottawa Lake, reflecting the sticker shock hitting drivers across the state.
Among the truck drivers experiencing the price surge is Don LaVair, a southwest Michigan trucker who has been in the business for 30 years. For 15 of those years, he was an owner operator of a trucking company.
“It was something I thought I could make a go at, but as fuel prices rose up, I wasn’t able to afford put the fuel in myself,” LaVair said. “I had to make some tough decisions. Go back to being a company driver.”
LaVair said if he was still an owner operator, the current prices would force him out of business.
“I would probably have to fold up and go back to either being a company driver or find another career,” he said.
LaVair’s company now pays for the diesel going into his big rig. Fellow trucker Ron Bailey’s company does the same. But Bailey said paying for regular gas in his personal vehicle is bothersome.
“I do drive an hour to work and an hour home. It’s went from 40 some dollars a week to over $60 a week,” Bailey said.
For LaVair, the price increases have forced changes in his personal budget.
“I try budgeting it out. We think about where we’re going now before hitting the road, but unfortunately you got it like for work. You got to have it to get back and forth,” LaVair said. “So we’re just trying to do the best we can to move forward.”
Illinois also set a new all-time record for average diesel prices Sunday. Indiana’s average diesel price surpassed $6 this weekend as well.
GasBuddy analysts say Ohio could be next to cross the $6 mark. Ohio’s highest average diesel price on record is $6.12, set June 22, 2022. Ohio is currently at $5.91.
The last time prices were this high was in 2022 after Russia invaded Ukraine.
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