For Tennessee truck drivers, a stop at the diesel pump has become painfully expensive.
The statewide average price for diesel reached about $5.99 a gallon on Sept. 16, according to AAA. That is roughly $2.60 more than Tennessee drivers were paying a year earlier. AAA’s data shows the current price is at or near the highest average diesel price the organization has recorded for Tennessee.
In Nashville, diesel has crossed the $6 mark. AAA listed the Nashville-area average at about $6.02 a gallon, compared with roughly $3.45 a year ago. Memphis was also just above $6, while Johnson City was averaging about $6.09.
Those numbers are more than an unpleasant surprise at the pump for truckers. For small operators, fuel can decide whether a load makes money at all.
One trucking family featured by NewsChannel 5 says the math has become so difficult that they gave up their home in order to keep their business running.
One Load, $2,000 in Revenue — and Almost Nothing Left
James Lisney and Maliah Aire told WTVF they became owner-operators about eight months ago, building a small family trucking business that hauls freight including groceries and household goods.
At one point, they had four trucks operating.
Now, Lisney said most of them are sitting.
The couple told WTVF that a recent 600-mile job paid $2,000. According to Lisney, about $1,700 of that went toward fuel, leaving only $300 after 16 hours of driving.
And fuel is not their only bill.
Independent truck operators can also face truck payments, insurance and maintenance costs. For a small business, there is far less room to absorb a sharp increase in diesel than there may be for a much larger trucking company.
Lisney and Aire said the pressure became so severe that when their condo lease came up for renewal, they had to choose between keeping their home and keeping the trucking business.
They chose the business and began living in their truck, according to their interview with WTVF.
That is an extreme example, but the fuel-price problem itself is much broader.
Diesel Is Above $6 Nationally, Too
Federal numbers show the increase is not limited to Tennessee.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration reported that the average price for on-highway diesel nationwide was $6.285 per gallon for the week of Sept. 14.
One week earlier, the national average was $5.967. At the end of August, it was $5.599.
That means the national diesel average climbed nearly 69 cents per gallon in roughly two weeks.
The Midwest average reached $6.25, while the Gulf Coast average was just over $6.02. The Lower Atlantic region, which includes much of the Southeast, averaged about $6.10.
For Tennessee businesses that rely on trucks, those prices can quickly multiply.
A passenger car might take 10 or 15 gallons during a fill-up. A commercial truck can burn through far more fuel while moving freight hundreds of miles.
That is why a jump of even a few dimes per gallon can matter. When the increase is measured in dollars, the effect becomes much harder to ignore.
Why Tennessee Should Pay Attention
Truckers are not the only people affected when diesel gets expensive.
Nearly every part of Tennessee depends on trucks to move goods.
Food has to reach grocery stores.
Building supplies have to reach job sites.
Retail products have to reach stores and warehouses.
Manufacturers need parts and raw materials moved between facilities.
Farm products have to travel from one place to another.
Those transportation costs do not automatically show up as a separate line on a shopper’s receipt. But higher freight costs can put more pressure on businesses throughout the supply chain.
That makes diesel prices especially important in a state connected by major freight routes such as Interstates 40, 24, 65, 75 and 81.
A truck traveling across Tennessee can easily pass through several major markets in a single trip. High diesel prices therefore become a statewide business issue, not just a Nashville trucking story.
Small Trucking Companies Have Less Room for Error
The story of Lisney and Aire also shows the difference between seeing a high fuel price on a sign and trying to run a company around it.
An owner-operator is not simply driving a truck for a paycheck. The truck itself is part of the business.
That means revenue from a load has to cover expenses before it becomes income for the people doing the work.
For Lisney and Aire, their reported $2,000 trip left only $300 after fuel alone.
And that figure did not represent a final business profit after every other expense. Truck payments, repairs, insurance and other costs still exist.
That helps explain why some small operators can find themselves driving more while keeping less.
Lisney told NewsChannel 5 that the family wants help from leaders of both major political parties, saying the issue should be addressed as a problem affecting Americans rather than treated as a partisan fight.
For Tennessee readers, the larger point is easier to see in the numbers than in politics.
Diesel in the state was averaging about $3.39 a gallon one year ago. It is now brushing against $6.
For anyone filling a commercial truck again and again, that difference adds up fast.
The Price at the Pump Has Become the Story
A year ago, Tennessee’s diesel average was well below $4.
Now, several Tennessee metro areas are around or above $6.
AAA listed Nashville at about $6.02, Memphis at about $6.01, Cleveland at roughly $6.01 and Johnson City at about $6.09 as of Sept. 16. Knoxville was just under $5.95.
Those prices can change from day to day, but the scale of the increase is already clear.
For families like Lisney and Aire, the question is not simply whether diesel is expensive.
It is whether a trucking business can still bring in enough money after the fuel tank is filled.
And because Tennessee depends on trucks to keep stores stocked, factories supplied and goods moving from one end of the state to the other, that is a problem that reaches far beyond the driver’s seat.
Sources
NewsChannel 5/WTVF report by Kelsey Gibbs, published Sept. 15, 2026, featuring James Lisney and Maliah Aire and their account of fuel costs and business pressures.
AAA Tennessee Fuel Prices, current statewide and metro diesel averages as of Sept. 16, 2026.
U.S. Energy Information Administration, weekly U.S. on-highway diesel prices through Sept. 14, 2026.
