After the Group of Seven agreed last Friday to release crude oil and refined products from emergency reserves, the diesel export ban that President Trump had previously threatened appears to have been shelved for now. This move shows that soaring diesel prices have become the most direct signal of the inflationary pressure brought by the US-Iran conflict, and the oil price shock is spreading outward to the broader global economy.

At a Flying-J truck stop in Orange, Texas, the diesel price held around $6.26 per gallon on Thursday. Many owner-operator truck drivers take scattered freight orders on the spot market, and they must bear all costs, including fuel, themselves. To offset high fuel prices, drivers are finding every possible way to cut other expenses.

Truck drivers say they cook in their cabs; after dropping their trailers they sleep on the spot to save on overnight parking fees; and they wait for rain to wash their vehicles rather than pay $100 for a car wash. Some drivers simply park their trucks and stop driving altogether.

Small operators make up the vast majority of freight companies registered in the United States, but they cannot withstand the cost pressure. More than ten have filed for bankruptcy protection in the past month. The Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association warns that if fuel prices stay high, even more businesses will collapse.

"If the wheels aren't turning, there's no income." — Kevin Smith (truck driver interviewed)

In the global trade sector, customers of FedEx, DHL, and United Parcel Service UPS are running into obstacles everywhere when applying for tariff refunds. The largest tariff-paying companies and small and micro businesses are seeing a clear gap in refund treatment. Large importers such as Walmart and Apple use themselves as the importer of record for a large share of their goods; the two companies have already received $2.9 billion and $2.2 billion in tariff refunds, respectively, from the US government.

But many small businesses need FedEx, DHL, and UPS to pay tariffs on their behalf, and they must wait much longer before they can put refund money back into payroll, inventory stocking, and capital spending. FedEx says the company prioritizes process accuracy and regulatory compliance, and has already returned hundreds of millions of dollars in refunds to customers. DHL says that for any shipment where it serves as the importer of record, it proactively submits refund applications on the customer's behalf; as of mid-September, about 92% of eligible customer refunds had been paid out.

Background in brief: The US-Iran conflict has pushed up diesel prices, owner-operator truck drivers face enormous cost pressure, and many small freight companies are going bankrupt. Tariff refunds show a divide in treatment between large and small businesses: large companies such as Walmart and Apple handle their own import declarations and receive refunds quickly, while small and medium-sized enterprises rely on express carriers and freight forwarders to clear customs on their behalf, significantly lengthening the repayment cycle.