If you’re planning a Labor Day road trip, make sure you are saving up money to fuel up at the pump. As we head into the last holiday of the summer in the U.S. on Sept. 7, gas prices are set to break a record.
“With a little over 2 weeks before Labor Day, it’s looking like both gasoline & diesel averages will be at their highest ever Labor Day level,” said gas expert Patrick DeHaan of GasBuddy in a Friday X post.
He said current records for the highest Labor Day gasoline are $3.83 per gallon, a high reached in 2012. This week, national average gas prices are at $4.10. A Labor Day diesel fuel high of $5.05 came in 2022 and diesel prices are up to $5.58 this week.
“Labor Day caps off summer travel and provides one final holiday weekend before the fall routine begins,” said Stacey Barber, Vice President of AAA Travel, as quoted in a press release last year. Back then, summer gas prices “remained low” in the weeks leading up to Labor Day, matching summer averages from 2021.
Gas prices started rising this year when President Donald Trump announced the U.S. had joined Israel to attack Iran. That conflict has resulted in blockages at the Strait of Hormuz, an important transportation route for oil, and has contributed to rising gas prices.
Trump made headlines this month when he said he sees the Strait of Hormuz as a U.S. territory, but that approach has not yet brought down gas prices significantly.
As of Saturday, gas prices in the U.S. were still more than $4.10 per gallon, according to AAA data. At the same time last year, average national gas prices were around $3.14.
In a Thursday press release, AAA noted that gas prices had already reached a record high for the date of Aug. 20, with the month overall shaping up to be the highest August on record with a monthly average $4.06. For reference, the 2022 monthly average for August was $3.97.
“Even though gasoline demand is down, which is typical for this time of year, crude oil is pushing up the national average,” AAA explained. “Crude oil prices remain in the $80 per barrel range amid continued instability in the Strait of Hormuz.”
