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April 21, 2003 4:00 PM, EDT

The average retail price of diesel fuel declined 1 cent last week to $1.529 per gallon, the sixth straight weekly decline, the U.S. Department of Energy said Monday.

Diesel is commercial trucking’s dominant fuel.

Diesel has declined 24.2 cents since setting an all-time record high of $1.771 on March 10. The price is currently lowest since Jan. 29, but is 22.5 cents above the price at this time a year ago.

DOE also said the price of gasoline, trucking's other major fuel, fell 2.1 cents a gallon to $1.574. Gasoline has declined five straight weeks as refiners passed along cheaper oil costs, Bloomberg News reported.

The price of diesel declined in each of DOE’s five major geographic regions, with the exception of the Midwest, where average prices rose 0.4 cent to $1.50. The steepest decline was 2.1 cents along the Gulf Coast, home to the cheapest diesel at $1.434.

Each week, the DOE's Energy Information Administration surveys 350 diesel-filling stations to compile a snapshot of the average diesel price nationwide.