EVERETT – Holiday travelers need to pack their wallet along with their bags this Labor Day weekend as AAA reports drivers are facing the highest gas prices ever for this time of year. The national average is $4.14, up 4 cents from last week. According to the national motor club, the national average has never been above $4 per gallon on Labor Day. The current Labor Day record is $3.82, set on September 3, 2012.
Analysts and economists assign US-Iran tensions and slower oil freighter traffic through the Arabian Gulf’s Straight of Hormuz for the current price at the pump.
On Washington’s roadways, Sheri Call, President and CEO of Washington Trucking Associations, tells the EverettPost.com, for truckers, “It’s been brutal for the industry with the fuel prices, and it is especially bad for the owner-operator or small fleets.” Owner-operator truck drivers own or lease their own commercial vehicles and run independent trucking businesses instead of working as traditional company employees.
In Washington, the current average for a gallon of regular gas is $5.48, the average price for a gallon of diesel is $6.81. The record high for gas and diesel prices in Washington peaked last spring with gas at $5.78 on May 20 and diesel at $6.96 on April 10.
“Trucking runs on diesel, and when those costs stay high,” Call advises, “it impacts everything—from the cost of goods to the stability of small businesses across our state.” Commercial trucks consume approximately 46.5 billion gallons of fuel annually, with nearly 80 percent of that being diesel. These sustained high prices, according to Call, are particularly challenging for small fleets, which make up more than 90 percent of the industry and often lack the financial flexibility to absorb prolonged cost increases.
Everyday drivers in Washington, as well as truckers, Call points out, “Don’t have fueling options where it’s cheaper, like Idaho and Oregon. And those that are in border areas, have the option of fueling where it’s cheaper. So, it’s been a real scramble,” for drivers.
Truckers, she says, “are left to strategize in other ways, including fueling outside of the state that they’re able to. We’re kind of stuck in a geographical area who really have no choice to pay the cost of fuel and pass it along to the extent they can.”
She says that high price of diesel and gas puts, “Businesses in Washington at a competitive disadvantage over the out-of-state businesses that have greater access to reduced fuel pricing.” To keep costs down and stay competitive, truckers and drivers have to be creative and find those cost savings whenever they can. “There are apps and routing software and optimization apps that allow a company to route their freight based on fuel pricing, all kinds of factors,” Call says, in an effort to squeeze the most possible out of every gallon of fuel.
In Washington, gas prices have been well above the national average for decades due to reliance on a higher gas tax and costs connected to a state law called the Climate Commitment Act passed in 2023. On June 22, 2023 for the first time in history Washington surpassed California and Hawaii to claim the top spot for the highest average fuel price in the U.S. Currently, Washington has the second highest average fuel price after California.
Call notes, “We’ve got added elements in the state that are contributing to” the price of diesel and gasoline. “I think it’s easy for anybody to look at the news and blame it (fuel price) on geopolitical factors, but this existed long before we had geopolitical factors in play,” in Washington.
The Washington Trucking Associations, the voice of Washington’s trucking community since 1922, warned in May during the period of record high fuel prices statewide, “Unlike some areas of the country, fuel costs in West Coast states like Washington are even more volatile due to state taxes and fees that add even more to the price of gas and diesel. In Washington, it’s adding $1.47 to each gallon of gasoline. Businesses and consumers are feeling doubly pinched by these increases, which impacts everything we all buy.”
Today, Call says, “There’s been a lot of discussion about the added cost of fuel in the state of Washington, particular due to the cap and invest program, but there’s not a lot of acknowledgment about the impact that we’ve been feeling since 2023. We know that there’s an impact in Washington on Washington fuel prices. And I think it’s been pretty well established that people have asked for a pause on the Climate Commitment Act,” referencing a voter initiative to repeal part of the Climate Commitment Act that creates an auction system to pay for emitting carbon fuel. The initiative was rejected in November 2024 by voters.
This Labor Day weekend, the average price of diesel in Washington is $6.81 a gallon compared to the national diesel average of $5.85 , nearly a $1 difference. The price differential for regular unleaded gas is even higher at $1.34 a gallon with the average Washington price $5.48 a gallon compared to only $4.14 a gallon for the national average.
Drivers looking for relief are unlikely to find any significant shift in Washington, Call believes, saying, “I think at the legislative level, something could be done, but I don’t think there’s any interest in addressing it,” politically in the Olympia Legislature. “There could be a rebate established that would help small businesses, but I reached out to the Department of Commerce to ask if there’s anything that exists. And I’ve got no feedback whatsoever.”