Australian Diesel Prices Hold Above $2 per Litre as Owner-Drivers Manage Rising Fuel Costs

Frank Black, a 40-year-old owner-driver, resumed long-haul work in late May 2026 after parking his truck for more than two weeks because diesel prices made jobs unprofitable. He is now on his third week back on the road, carrying mining equipment from South Australia to Queensland, then stage equipment from Sydney north toward Brisbane.

Black follows a rule of thumb that one-third of each job’s pay covers fuel, one-third covers truck maintenance, and one-third covers wages.

20 a litre in April. The baseline cost of keeping a long-haul truck operating is between $100,000 and $200,000 a year before fuel, and long-haul drivers average up to 200,000 km a year. Payment terms for owner-drivers are often delayed by 30, 90 or 120 days.

Black says the war in Iran has been “the final nail in the coffin for a lot of people” and that he would not enter trucking again because of the personal and financial costs. He attributes the breakdown of his marriage to long periods away from home.

The Transport Workers’ Union secured a temporary Fair Work order in April that requires clients to pay fuel surcharges while prices exceed $2 a litre; the order is scheduled for review in late July.

Richard Olsen, the NSW state secretary of the union, said drivers often cut vehicle maintenance first when managing costs and that more permanent regulations are needed. David Peetz, a professor at Griffith University who researches work and labour markets, said the road freight transport industry is characterised by low profits and growing rates of insolvency.

Owner-drivers sometimes put their house up as security against their truck loan, Black noted.

Long-haul drivers spend extended periods away from home, sleeping in truck cabins at roadhouses or on the roadside. Black stopped overnight at a roadhouse near Narrabri in northern New South Wales during the drive between Sydney and Brisbane. He said younger drivers often enter the industry expecting higher earnings than they achieve, adding pressure on families.

Olsen said the industry needs a cost-recovery model that accounts for all outgoings and includes a permanent fuel levy regulated into law. Black said people forget that most products are transported by road and that drivers work through the night to deliver them.