Diesel prices dip 0.7 cents to $3.974 per gallon, reports EIA

The average price per gallon of diesel gasoline dipped 0.7 cents this week to $3.974 per gallon, according to the Department of Energy’s Energy Information Administration (EIA).

This decline comes on the heels of two straight weeks at $3.981 per gallon, which represents the highest weekly price since the week of April 1, when it hit $3.993 per gallon. Prior to the matching weeks at $3.981 per gallon, diesel prices rose a cumulative 8.5 cents over the previous three weeks.

On an annual basis, diesel is down 16.7 cents, while the weekly price has been up in seven of the last ten weeks.

In its recent update of the short-term energy outlook, the EIA expects the average price of diesel for 2013 to be $3.96 per gallon, just ahead of 2012’s $3.97. For 2014, it expects the average price to be 3.82 per gallon.

Regardless of the fluctuation in diesel prices, shippers are cognizant of the impact diesel prices can have on their bottom line—for better or worse.

And they continue to be proactive on that front, too, by taking steps to reduce mileage and transit lengths when possible as well as cut down on empty miles. And even through shippers want to adjust budgets in order to offset the increased costs higher fuel prices bring, it is not always an easy thing to manage.

The average price of a barrel of crude oil was down to $106.08 on the New York Mercantile Exchange as of press time, down from the $110 range in recent weeks. The Associated Press reported that this decline is due in part to investors prepping for an expected reduction in the U.S. Federal Reserve’s monetary stimulus, adding that prices were also under pressure from the deal on Syria’s chemical weapons and reports signaling the return of Libyan crude to the market.