Since the beginning of the year, the United States has reached a surplus of crude oil, which is used for gasoline and diesel products. Even though America uses foreign oil, prices are dictated by the U.S. dollar, and how valuable it is.

In May 2008, the U.S. economy fell into a recession, and because the value of the dollar dropped, gas prices skyrocketed to almost $5 a gallon.

But at the beginning of the year, the value of the U.S. dollar became stronger, according to CNN.com. Along with the OPEC lowering crude oil costs to try to keep the U.S. from using its own oil, gas and diesel prices are at a new low since the recession began in 2008.

With all of this being said, consumers must ask the question: Why aren’t the prices of diesel fuel falling at the same rate as premium gasoline?

Diesel, a fuel option that costs significantly less to make than unleaded gasoline, is still generally more expensive than premium gasoline.

When we saw the huge “gas discount” fall of prices in early 2015, the average gallon of gasoline dropped more than a dollar, while diesel dropped about 40 cents a gallon.

To clarify, diesel is a form of refined crude oil, much simpler and less costly to make than gasoline.

Driving a diesel car equivalent to its gasoline competitor has many benefits: 20-40  percent better fuel economy, less pollutants produced by the engine, better reliability, a longer lasting engine, and lastly, much more torque from a similarly sized engine.

The consumer market for diesel cars has been on a rapid rise over the last few years, with new efficient diesel cars from Audi, Volkswagen, Porsche, Mercedes, BMW, Chevy, Ford, and Dodge.

Volkswagen makes a diesel motor that gets nearly 50 miles to the gallon, while having more than 100 percent more power than the average hybrid, such as a Toyota Prius.

More than 50 percent of cars sold in all of Europe are diesel, while the figure for the USA is much lower. The European auto market is based on the diesel car.

It is not uncommon to have a diesel car in Europe that gets over 60 MPG. In America, we have gasoline cars with diesel options, while in Europe, they have diesel cars with gasoline options.

Car companies are starting to introduce diesel options as upgrades over gasoline models.  So, one would think the U.S. would promote this rise in popularity for diesel cars with a drop in diesel fuel costs.

But that is not true.

Truckers rely on diesel to move products across the country. China is using diesel more for factory production of retail products, which inflates the market for the rest of the world.

Because diesel is used throughout the world, the United States sees this as an opportunity to make money and help the economy.

The U.S. raises diesel prices so truckers will have to pay more for diesel, according to businessinsider.com. Truckers pay more for diesel, which makes raises the cost of the products they move, such as groceries.

China uses it to run factories and production lines, therefore the U.S. will raise the price in the country to outset the cost and return of the products they buy from China.

This creates more equity in the U.S. economy by making the government more money and thereby improving it.

But why should the average consumer have to suffer to make the U.S. government more money that the general population will never see?

Diesel has always been a great and better fuel option over gasoline, and it’s time consumers in the United Sates can better afford to use it.