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The national average price of diesel fuel rose just 0.2 cent per gallon to $1.48, the Department of Energy reported Tuesday.

Diesel is the primary fuel for the trucking industry, and higher diesel prices and put a squeeze on trucking companies' bottom lines.

Around the country, the most expensive diesel fuel is found in the New England states, where consumers are paying $1.594 per gallon for the fuel.

The price of crude oil, which is distilled down to motor fuels like diesel and gasoline, has been held high by a general strike in Venezuela that has interrupted oil supplies, and the threat of war in Iraq that may disrupt shipments from the world’s leading suppliers of oil.

The price of diesel fuel rose in every geographical region that the DOE's Energy Information Administration measures, except the Rocky Mountain states – where the price was unchanged and the Midwest – which saw a decline of 0.8 cent a gallon.

The EIA queries 350 filling stations about the price of diesel fuel at the start of each week. This week, due to the observance of the Martin Luther King Jr. Day holiday, the survey was conducted Tuesday, but the prices reflect the price of diesel fuel on Monday.