Record High Diesel Prices Ripple Through Economy

A gallon of diesel cost $3.30 last week -- even more than after hurricanes Katrina and Rita disrupted the nation's fuel supply in 2005. And, according to USA Today, the American economy could soon feel the pain now being felt by truckers and the businesses that rely on them.

Behind the high price of diesel -- no surprise -- is the rising cost of crude oil, which has hit its own record levels on futures trading, due to fear of supply gaps, Turkish invasions of Iraqi Kurdistan and other disruptions.

How far the pain is felt will depend on how long prices stay high -- a fact that could be determined by an upcoming OPEC meeting. Right now, consumers haven't been asked to absorb the increased cost of shipping, but they could be -- and that could help send an economy already made fragile by housing and credit woes into a tailspin.

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