Magnus Technologies Releases September 2026 Diesel Fuel Index, Revealing a Widening Fuel Surcharge Gap as Diesel Nears This Year's High

New quarterly analysis found diesel prices rebounded to a 2026 high by late August, up 52.4% YoY, exposing carriers on quarterly fuel surcharge resets to a widening margin gap

AUSTIN, Texas, Sept. 17, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Magnus Technologies ("Magnus"), a leading Transportation Management System (TMS) software provider, today released the September 2026 Diesel Fuel Index, a quarterly market intelligence report tracking diesel price movement and its real-world impact on carrier margins.

The report found that U.S. average retail diesel prices fell through June before reversing sharply, with the week of July 20 producing a $0.34 per gallon jump, the largest single-week move since March. Prices climbed nearly every week after, touching $5.65 per gallon on August 24, a new high for the year, representing a 52.4% increase, or $1.94 per gallon, over the same week in 2025. Diesel closed at or above $5.00 per gallon in every week of August, bringing 2026's total to 21 weeks above that threshold.

Diesel has now swung sharply in both directions twice in five months, and carriers on quarterly surcharge resets have been shielded through most of the summer by rates still locked to the second quarter's elevated average. That protection is thinning fast as those resets roll into the fourth quarter.

The report is accompanied by the Magnus Fuel Gap Report, which models the impact of August's price swing on a representative 55-truck Texas carrier. The analysis found that a carrier on a weekly, index-based reset faced a worst one-week exposure of approximately $7,150, while a carrier on the market's most common structure, a monthly reset, left roughly $53,600 unrecovered over the course of August. A carrier on a quarterly reset has left about $14,000 unrecovered since mid-August, a gap the report notes is on track to widen sharply once quarterly resets roll into the fourth quarter.

The September 2026 Diesel Fuel Index is the second edition of Magnus Technologies' quarterly diesel market intelligence series. The full report is available here.

To learn more about Magnus Technologies and its enterprise Transportation Management System, visit magnustech.com

About Magnus Technologies
Magnus Technologies, headquartered in Austin, Texas, has 20 years of experience designing, developing, and delivering enterprise Transportation Management System (TMS) software. Magnus offers an enterprise SaaS-based TMS that is affordable and scalable to fleets of all sizes. The modular platform works seamlessly with the Magnus Driver App and Magnus Carrier Advantage network to deliver a complete, end-to-end mobile dispatch and order fulfillment solution to maximize profitability and growth.

To learn more, visit www.magnustech.com.

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