TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) \u2014 As the price of regular gasoline climbs, diesel prices are skyrocketing. The national average for a gallon of diesel is now $6.31 a gallon. Locally in Tampa, gas is $6.39 in many areas.<\/p>\n
“I’ve never seen them this high,” truck driver Robbie Sparks said. “Unless on the West Coast, but this is the highest I’ve ever seen it over here.”<\/p>\n
But it’s not just truck drivers like Robbie Sparks who are impacted by higher diesel prices. As economics professor Abby Hall of the University of Tampa told 8 On Your Side, any goods transported by those trucks are rising in price too.<\/p>\n
“We can certainly think about things like food, and certainly when you’re talking about fruit or vegetables that has to be trucked in on a regular basis that might spoil quickly, you might see it there relatively quickly,” she said.<\/p>\n
While Hall said unrest in the Middle East plays a role in diesel prices rising, she added that the United States’s oil refinery capacity was another reason.<\/p>\n
“The US is operating at 98% capacity,” she said. “The ability to absorb or expand refining to help increase supply and bring down prices is just not that simple in the current context.”<\/p>\n
As to whether consumers will see any noticeable price increases, Hall said it depends on how long diesel remains high.<\/p>\n
“If this is something that’s transitory and corrects relatively quickly, consumers might not notice an upward trend, or at least not for very long,” she said.<\/p>\n