This week’s diesel prices are “the nail in the coffin” for owner operators, some say

Some owner operators are calling recently rising diesel prices “the nail in the coffin” for owner operators trying to make it in the trucking business. 

Diesel prices have risen more than 85 cents since Operation Epic Fury was launched on February 28th. Rising diesel prices combined with a difficult freight market since the Covid freight boom are leaving owner operators without many options. 

“For us to absorb this cost for much more than a few months means extinction,” independent trucker and Hell Bent Xpress President Jamie Hagen told the Daily Caller News Foundation. “Fuel was the death blow to an already beaten up industry.”

“Our members often work load to load and can’t simply raise their rates when fuel spikes the way their larger competitors can,” the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association (OOIDA) told the DCNF. “With freight rates already low, a sharp increase in diesel can quickly eat up what little margin a small trucking business has left.”

Hagen also says immigrant truck drivers are partially to blame for the market that currently has too many truck drivers and too few loads. 

“The market got flooded with unqualified people. It’s an absolute mess out here with all different nationalities and almost none speaking English,” Hagen noted to the DCNF when discussing oversupply. “And they’re willing to risk their lives for little reward. If I could pay my people very little, basically food money, then maybe our situation wouldn’t be so dire. As a driver myself I am not willing to do anyone that dirty though.”

For a period of time, the trucking industry seemed optimistic about the effect the current administration’s crackdown on immigrant CDL holders would have on the market, but after years of high fuel prices and a poor freight market, owner operators say that the most recent diesel price surge may be “the nail in the coffin” for the remaining small trucking companies. 

“This is sort of the nail in the coffin,” owner-operator James Hagen told the DCNF, referring to diesel’s one-week surge. “This raise in cost could slow the momentum we had going into 2026…after 3 years of downturns, Hell Bent Xpress doesn’t have a year 4 left in it. It is now or never. Henceforth why I don’t sleep much at night these days.”

“I’m actively trying to renegotiate contracts with some verbiage to help with the situation,” Hagen said. “Typically, fuel doesn’t rise this fast. At a slower pace we could have eventually just raised the rate of our contracts, but this is bonkers. We don’t have contracts in place with a good fuel surcharge.”

Overall, Hagen says that the only hope for some owner operators is that diesel prices will enter a steep decline very soon. 

“I’ve been in this industry my entire life and I’ve never experienced anything like this. I’ve seen small slow downs and reduced demand but never a three year stretch before. I’m know for being a very efficient operator and this has out paced anything I was prepared for,” owner-operator Hagen said.