One of the many side effects of President Donald Trump's stance on the war with Iran is the skyrocketing gas prices in America that is affecting everyday businesses.
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that → skyrocket → businesses
Everyone is feeling the pinch, especially truck drivers who transport consumer goods across the country.
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who → feel → country
Diesel prices are peaking at $6.39 a gallon nationally, almost three times more than what people were paying in 2024, according to the US Energy Information Administration.
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people → peak → Administration
For independent truckers, this means spending as much as $1,000 to fill up a tank, the New York Times reported.
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Times → mean → tank
NBC News reports that the average diesel price has soared by 70 per cent since the war with Iran began in February, forcing truckers to do anything and everything to stay afloat.
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war → report → anything
Adding to the strain from the war, fuel supplies across the world were also affected after Ukraine attacked Russian diesel refineries in retaliation for the Kremlin’s missile strikes.
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Ukraine → add → strikes
Russia is a major exporter of diesel for countries like the US, but its government recently announced that it has extended its ban on diesel exports until the end of October, Reuters reported.
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Reuters → announce → October
The fuel prices have hiked up by 70 percent since Trump's war with Iran.
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prices → hike → Iran
This has affected business across America including truck drivers
Lewie Pugh, executive vice president of the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association said that the high prices are crushing the industry.
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prices → affect → industry
Diesel prices are peaking at $6.39 a gallon nationally, almost three times more than what people were paying in 2024
Truck drivers are barely making end meet with the rise in fuel prices.
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end → peak → prices
Many of them are spending as much as $1000 for filling up their tanks
‘
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Many → spend → tanks
This is crushing to our industry,’ Lewie Pugh, executive vice president of the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association, told the NYT.
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Pugh → crush → NYT
‘When fuel goes up a dollar a gallon at the pump, that’s another $400 per week that they have to spend.
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they → go → that
That’s a huge, huge hit to a small business trucker.
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That → ’ → trucker
The repercussions are being felt in real time by truckers like Sean Howarth, who started his independent trucking business last year.
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who → feel → business
The businessman, who has a family in Miami, told NYT that he hasn't gone back home since mid-August to save money and make ends meet.
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ends → have → money
‘I am just trying to hang on,’ he said.
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he → try → ?
Howarth, like many other truckers, is finding it hard to deal with stagnant freight rates, rising expenses and the small profit margins.
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it → find → rates
The 36-year-old trucker told the outlet that when he did a haul from Rogers, Minnesota, to Johnstown, New York last week, the cost of the trip came out to an even $626 for a load that grossed about $1000.
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that → tell → 1000
The profit he made was a 'fraction of the $5,300 he owes on his monthly truck payment and insurance.’
He added that while he can manage the business despite the fuel hikes, any more surges in diesel prices would wipe him out.
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surges → make → him
For now, he is only picking up jobs on the East Coast and Midwest to avoid paying high fuel charges in California, where the average cost of diesel is $8.38 a gallon.
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cost → pick → diesel
‘When I started, it cost me $500 to fill my tank, and now it’s $950 or $1,100-plus, depending on where I am in the country,’ Howarth said.
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Howarth → start → country
But while Howarth is able to make ends meet for now, truckers like Renardo Harmon are burning a hole in their pockets with these hiked fuel prices.
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truckers → make → prices
Harmon, 40, has a subcontract with an Alabama-based carrier to transport goods to general stores across the Southeast.
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Harmon → have → Southeast
He told the NYT that the high costs are ‘trickling down’ to his ‘house expenses, rent and groceries.’
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costs → tell → expenses
‘At $3 to $4 a gallon, you can survive.
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you → survive → 4
But if the prices don’t drop, a lot of us might be forced to suspend operations until things get better,' he said.
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he → drop → operations
With mid-term elections around the corner, the Trump administration is trying to make amends.
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administration → try → amends
With Russia banning the export of Diesel till October end, the administration is asking for help from its European allies
Many truck drivers including 40-year-old Renardo Harmon from Atlanta will have to shut down their business if fuel prices continue to rise up
President Donald Trump’s approval rating has declined to 31 percent.
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rating → ban → percent
Many American blame the president's decisions as the reason of the economy decline
Trucks are used to transport goods including food, construction materials, medical supplies and electronics from ports and factories.
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Trucks → blame → ports
Price hike in fuel directly affects prices of everyday goods that Americans need.
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Americans → affect → that
The Trump administration is looking to its European allies to help the country during this time of crisis.
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administration → look → crisis
With only five weeks left in the 2026 US midterm elections, the current administration is making sure they earn votes by getting the fuel prices down.
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they → leave → prices
The administration said Thursday that it's ramping up the pressure campaign to get Europe to export diesel from its national emergency stockpiles.
‘You will hear announcements from our friends in Europe about new diesel supplies that’ll come to the market that’ll meaningfully push diesel prices down,’ the US Energy Secretary Chris Wright told reporters Wednesday at an event with Trump in the Oval Office.
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Secretary → say → Office
The announcements, however, have not yet materialized.
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announcements → materialize → ?
Trump’s approval rating has declined to a shocking 31 percent, according to a CNN poll conducted by SSRS.
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rating → decline → SSRS
Approximately two-thirds of Americans have said that the president’s economic policies have worsened living conditions in the US.
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policies → say → US
The Aporia
