National Average Price for Regular Unleaded Current: $3.537; Month Ago: $3.319; Year Ago: $3.461. National Average Price for Diesel Current: $4.042; Month Ago: $4.069; Year Ago: $4.240.

Record diesel prices are crushing California's truckers, forcing them to adjust to avoid losses as they grapple with the most expensive pump prices in the country. Greg Dubuque's 40 drivers are in a constant diesel-devouring loop. Their big rigs pick up loads of electronics, office furniture and other goods around Los Angeles. They drive close to 1,000 miles through the Mojave Desert and over the Rocky Mountains to Denver. They bring back containers full of everything from pinto beans to home remodeling products. One tank of gas for his vehicles cost $600 a couple of months ago. Today it costs $1,000. That's a record high and more than 35% above the country's average. “California sets itself apart from the rest of the country when it comes to pricing," said Dubuque, a third-generation trucker and general manager of Liberty Linehaul West. "Now it’s really out of control.” The average price of a gallon of diesel in California got close to $7.75 this week, up 50% from a month ago, according to the American Automobile Assn. The national average of diesel is closer to $5.65 at recent peaks.

Faced with dramatic increases in the cost of Azo intermediates and related raw materials, Sun Chemical Performance Pigments will raise its global prices on Azo pigments, specialty pigments and their pigment preparations, effective January 1, 2018. “The cost of Azo intermediates and other key raw materials have increased significantly and continue to do so, impacting the pigment industry,” said Chris Weighill, Vice President and Global Classical Pigment Product Manager, Sun Chemical Performance Pigments. “The expectation is that there will be no short-term relief in sight for these rising costs—forcing us to increase our prices. While we regret the necessity to take this action, current market conditions dictate that we must adjust our prices. We will continue to explore other cost reduction opportunities and productivity gains to offset the rising costs of raw materials.”