[Robert Adams]

Not sure what forces are at work when fuel of any sort jumps that much from one day to the next. But it does seem to occur with greater frequency than it used to. All sorts of cynical options do come to mind.
However the main reason for higher diesel prices over gas prices at the pump come from taxes levied and not higher or lower production cost. Owning 2 or 3 diesels back in the 80s and early 90s, I discovered that the amount of taxes (Fed, State & maybe local) added onto a gallon of diesel was almost half the cost of the retail price depending upon your state and it's a whole bunch higher than the % added to gasoline. Lobbyists at work no doubt? I don't recall the exact % amount levied by each govt entity, but it was and I believe still remains significant. I believe the main reason given at the time it was started back in the 70s was these taxes were imposed on Diesel in particular as a way of generating revenue from the trucking industry without a blatant direct tax on the rest of us to repair & maintain infrastructure. Looking at the major roads around our neck of the woods I think we came up short on the deal!
No question the trucking industry benefits greatly from the interstate road system, but I'm thinking with the state things are in now, a tax on diesel is totally ass backward in light of trying to foster less dependence on oil. The use of diesel in and of itself obviously doesn't cure dependence, but no question it does achieve higher MPG and therefor contributes to it in the long term.
Anyway, my cents worth and sorry to bore you all with my ranting. Just tics me off when I see something that seems so against our best interests, not to mention the price gouging originally questioned.
Now I'm curious about how the darn tax structure actually breaks down? Have to look into it.