Texas Declares Statewide Disaster In Response To Diesel Prices - Waives Restrictions To Lower Costs
Posted on 9/30/2026 by Agent009
Texas is taking drastic measures to ease pain at the pump for its commercial trucking industry. On Monday, Governor Abbott issued a statewide disaster proclamation and announced that the state would temporarily waive restrictions on using dyed diesel fuel on the highway, giving agricultural operators a little extra headroom against high diesel prices.
According to AAA’s gas price tracker, the average price of diesel in Texas is hovering around $6.43 per gallon. That’s actually down about $0.10 from last week, but it’s still 75% higher than the average per-gallon cost a year ago ($3.68).
Dyed diesel is commonly referred to as farm-use or off-road diesel and is not subject to fuel taxes (meant to support road maintenance and construction). It is available to certain commercial (usually agricultural) outfits strictly for use on their properties and is not normally legal to use on-road.