Regional Diesel Prices in Broker Quotes: National Average or PADD Benchmark?

What a PADD is, and which diesel regions EIA publishes

Petroleum Administration for Defense Districts are EIA’s regional groupings of states. PADD 1, the East Coast, is split into New England (1A), Central Atlantic (1B) and Lower Atlantic (1C). PADD 2, the Midwest, is Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee and Wisconsin. PADD 3, the Gulf Coast, is Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Mexico and Texas. PADD 4, the Rocky Mountain region, is Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Utah and Wyoming. PADD 5, the West Coast, includes Arizona, California, Nevada, Oregon and Washington.

The weekly diesel release covers the U.S., each of those districts and sub-districts, California, and the West Coast less California. Alaska and Hawaii belong to PADD 5 by definition but are outside the diesel survey, which samples the contiguous United States only.

Sources: EIA definitions for weekly retail gasoline and diesel prices, including PADD state lists; EIA Gasoline and Diesel Fuel Update: weekly on-highway diesel prices by region (release of September 29, 2026); EIA weekly diesel-price methodology

A regional price is a sample estimate, not the fuel on your lane

EIA collects the Monday 8 a.m. cash self-serve pump price, including taxes, from a stratified sample of 590 outlets. The sample has eight primary strata that match the published regional breakouts, and the estimates are weighted by each outlet’s annual sales volume. Outlets that cannot be reached are imputed, and EIA publishes a history of standard errors for the weekly estimates.

Each regional figure therefore rests on part of a 590-outlet sample. It is not a route-weighted cost, and it does not reflect where the carrier actually fuels. The national series has the same character at a larger scale, as explained in what the EIA benchmark represents.

Sources: EIA weekly diesel-price methodology

A dated lane example

The lane and formula inputs are invented; the diesel prices are EIA’s published values for the week of September 28, 2026, released September 29. Suppose a load picks up in Laredo, Texas (PADD 3) and delivers in Chicago, Illinois (PADD 2), with 1,300 agreed miles, a $1.50 base and 6.5 miles per gallon, using the per-mile formula from the EIA surcharge guide.

• U.S. average, $6.382: ($6.382 − $1.50) ÷ 6.5 × 1,300 = $976.40.
• Gulf Coast (PADD 3), $5.955: $891.00.
• Midwest (PADD 2), $6.526: $1,005.20.
• U.S. average one week earlier, $6.529 for September 21: $1,005.80.

Sources: EIA weekly retail on-highway diesel prices by area, series EMD_EPD2D_PTE (data table); EIA Gasoline and Diesel Fuel Update: weekly on-highway diesel prices by region (release of September 29, 2026)

What the example shows

Choosing the origin region instead of the national average lowers the charge by $85.40; choosing the destination region raises it by $28.80. Neither region is more correct for a lane that crosses both. Averaging the origin and destination districts is another formula, and it has to be written into the agreement before it is used.

The week matters as much as the region. Using the September 21 national price instead of September 28 adds $29.40 to the same load, so the agreement needs a rule tying the shipment date to an observation week. To reproduce these numbers, use EIA series EMD_EPD2D_PTE_NUS_DPG, EMD_EPD2D_PTE_R30_DPG and EMD_EPD2D_PTE_R20_DPG in dollars per gallon.

Sources: EIA weekly retail on-highway diesel prices by area, series EMD_EPD2D_PTE (data table)

Regions move at different speeds

From September 21 to September 28, 2026, the national average fell $0.147 while the Rocky Mountain average rose $0.067. A national benchmark can move against the price where the truck is running, in either direction.

Sub-regions also matter. In the same release, PADD 1 averaged $6.137, but New England was $6.510 and the Lower Atlantic $5.953. The West Coast figure of $7.357 includes California at $8.181; the West Coast less California was $6.643. A Washington-to-Oregon lane priced on the West Coast series carries California’s price in its average. California’s gap over the national average, $1.799 a gallon, is about $0.277 a mile at 6.5 miles per gallon.

Sources: EIA Gasoline and Diesel Fuel Update: weekly on-highway diesel prices by region (release of September 29, 2026)

Write the benchmark into the quote

A recommended procedure, to adapt to your customer and carrier agreements. Name the series and its EIA series ID, not just a region. State which observation week applies to a ship date, and what happens when EIA publishes on Wednesday after a holiday. Say whether a sub-district or the West Coast less California series is used where one exists. Keep the series ID and the week with the quote, alongside the other inputs a later reviewer needs.

Published LTL and parcel schedules generally key their percentages to the national average, so a regional agreement with the shipper does not change what an LTL carrier bills. VerifyCarrier’s fuel workspace shows the national series and six regional series: East Coast, Midwest, Gulf Coast, Rocky Mountain, West Coast and California. It does not show the New England, Central Atlantic, Lower Atlantic or West Coast less California series; read those from EIA directly.

Sources: EIA Gasoline and Diesel Fuel Update: weekly on-highway diesel prices by region (release of September 29, 2026)