Small carriers ask Congress to freeze diesel exports for 6 months

The small carriers are done waiting for someone else to fix diesel. The National Association of Small Trucking Companies sent a letter to U.S. House leaders asking Congress to consider pausing diesel exports while the country runs on dangerously thin fuel reserves.

The ask comes from a NASTC member, and the association backed it as an idea Congress should seriously consider. The proposal: a temporary six-month pause on U.S. diesel and distillate exports, with narrow exemptions for national security, binding treaty obligations, and genuine humanitarian needs. Weekly public reporting would keep everyone honest, with formal reviews at 90 and 180 days.

This is not a permanent protectionist play, and NASTC said so plainly. It is framed as an emergency measure to keep domestic fuel supplies adequate while multiple Middle Eastern shipping routes are under pressure at the same time.

The numbers behind the request are grim. The U.S. Energy Information Administration's Sept. 9 Short-Term Energy Outlook forecast that U.S. distillate inventories would fall below 100 million barrels in September and stay below the five-year low through much of 2027. The Oct. 6 update was no better: East Coast distillate inventories sat 32% below their five-year seasonal average in September, and EIA expects them to remain around 20% below the 2021-2025 average through the coming winter.

The NASTC member put it bluntly: small carriers and owner-operators have the least room to absorb a sudden fuel-cost spike. When reserves are this thin, one disruption ripples straight into your fuel card balance.

The letter carried a second demand that hits closer to home for anyone sharing the road. NASTC wants Congressional oversight of the federal hours-of-service waiver for fuel haulers, which the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration granted in September and runs through Dec. 16. That waiver lets tanker drivers hauling diesel work days of up to 16 consecutive hours. NASTC President David Owen called it a tremendous highway safety risk, arguing that speeding up fuel delivery does not fix the fuel supply itself and compromises safety all the same.

Meanwhile, help is already arriving in piecemeal form. Several states have suspended fuel taxes or started allowing red-dyed, off-road diesel for on-highway use. President Trump issued an executive order deferring federal tax payments on dyed diesel through the end of the year. But drivers still owe state taxes anywhere relief was not granted, and the federal tax is deferred, not forgiven — unless legislation turns the deferral into a full stay, the bill comes due. The state exemptions are a patchwork, each with its own rules on who can use red fuel and where.

In Texas, the EPA issued a temporary 20-day waiver lifting certain fuel standards to ease a potential shortage, opening the door to diesel with up to 500 ppm sulfur. Engine maker Cummins pushed back fast, warning owners to follow their engine's fuel specs: 2007-and-newer engines and Tier 4 equipment need 15 ppm ultra-low sulfur diesel, and engine or aftertreatment failures from the wrong fuel will not be covered under warranty. The waiver is limited to pre-2007 trucks and older off-road engines.

What it means for your week: the export pause is a request, not a done deal, so plan fuel stops like prices stay ugly. If you run pre-2007 iron in Texas, double-check your engine's fuel spec before touching anything from a waiver tank. And remember that fuel-hauler waiver — when you're rolling beside a tanker running a 16-hour day, give it room.