Trucking News · California · November 4, 2026

Truckers Paying About 70% More for Diesel: At Least 40 Trucking Companies Filed for Bankruptcy in September, Up 38% From a Year Earlier, Reporting Says

By Big Rig Daily Staff

At least 40 trucking companies filed for bankruptcy in September, a 38 percent increase from a year earlier, and record diesel prices are a contributing factor, especially for small operators, according to a report by The New York Times, published Nov. 3, 2026. Big Rig Daily read the full text as republished by DNYUZ. The original is on nytimes.com.

The numbers

The Times says truckers are paying around 70 percent more per gallon than they were a year ago. It cites BKwire, a bankruptcy data analytics firm, for the September count of at least 40 trucking company filings nationwide. Experts and bankruptcy lawyers told the paper that every failing business has its own story, but record diesel prices have been a factor.

David Cruz, a bankruptcy lawyer in Florida, said: "When diesel goes from under $4 a gallon to over $6 in a year and freight rates don't follow, the difference comes straight out of the owner's pocket." He said more trucking companies have contacted his office since the war in Iran began. Desiree Wood, a former trucker and president of the trade group Real Women in Trucking, called rising fuel prices "essentially a final nail in the coffin" for many small operators.

One owner's story

The Times told the story of Luis Escalante, 47, who started a small Riverside County, California, company called A&B Transportation around 2016. It grew to eight trucks and eight drivers. He said a round trip between Southern California and Texas paid about $8,000 before expenses in the early pandemic years but only $2,600 later, as new competitors offered bargain rates, and by the end of 2024 most of his drivers had left.

When diesel in California rose past $5, then $6 and $7, he said, he could no longer carry his high-interest loans. Even fueling just across the Arizona line, prices were close to $6 a gallon, and filling his 150-gallon tank cost about $900, more than a third of what he made on a Texas round trip. The company lost three trucks to repossession and, with liabilities above $500,000 and assets under $50,000, he chose Chapter 7. He signed the paperwork on Sept. 11, the day AAA logged what was then a record national diesel average, $6.05 a gallon. He now drives for another small company and earns close to 65 cents per mile, the Times reports.

Why small fleets feel it first

Large carriers with long-term contracts and fuel surcharges can pass higher diesel costs along, said Erich Muehlegger, an economics professor at the University of California, Davis, and Walmart and Amazon, which run their own fleets, can absorb them. Small for-hire companies are far less insulated, and the Times, citing an American Trucking Associations analysis of federal data, says they made up around 90 percent of 580,000 active trucking companies last year.

Cruz described a trap: lenders repossess trucks when owners fall two or three payments behind, which removes any way to catch up, while a bankruptcy filing triggers an automatic stay that stops repossession. Last month, the Times says, the president signed an executive order allowing anyone to buy red-dyed diesel and deferring some taxes on the fuel, but for many truckers the relief is not enough.

For more on small fleets, see Big Rig Daily's earlier reports on 221 trucking company bankruptcies so far in 2026 and diesel up 69% in a year. The 221 count covers a different period and source than the September count.

Quick facts

• September filings: at least 40, up 38% from a year earlier, per BKwire as cited by The New York Times.
• Diesel: truckers are paying around 70% more per gallon than a year ago, per the Times.
• Small for-hire companies: about 90% of 580,000 active trucking companies last year, per an ATA analysis cited by the Times.

FAQ

Did diesel prices cause these bankruptcies?

The Times says experts see record diesel as a contributing factor, especially for small operators. It does not say it was the only cause.

A question for readers

Owner-operators and small fleet owners, what has helped you the most when diesel prices climb faster than rates?

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