EIA (U.S. Energy Information Administration)
Example: Your produce vendor adds a 4% fuel surcharge to this week's invoice. You check the EIA weekly diesel price: it has been climbing for a month. The surcharge isn't your vendor inventing a fee — it's freight pressure showing up on the bill, exactly the leading edge the Cost Index reads diesel for. The diesel number explains the surcharge; it doesn't tell you what tomatoes themselves now cost.
the U.S. federal energy-statistics agency
The U.S. federal agency for energy statistics. Its most restaurant-relevant series is the weekly retail price of diesel and gasoline — public, free, and on a fixed schedule.
Why it matters
The Cost Index reads EIA diesel as a freight-cost pressure signal: when diesel climbs, delivery surcharges and freight-in costs tend to follow. It's a leading indicator on delivered cost — not a wholesale food price.
Frequently asked
Is the EIA diesel price a food price?
No. EIA publishes energy prices, not food prices. The Cost Index reads its weekly retail diesel series as a freight-cost pressure signal — when diesel climbs, delivery surcharges and freight-in costs tend to follow. It points to which way delivered cost is leaning; it is never the price of the food itself.
How does the Cost Index use EIA diesel?
Only in its leading-indicator pressure overlay. Diesel feeds an inferred direction on delivered cost — published with a direction but no dollar figure, and only once that rule's live track record clears a hold-until-proven bar. It corroborates freight pressure; it is not a wholesale price the index quotes.
Is EIA data free and how often does it come out?
Yes — the EIA is a U.S. federal agency and its data is public and free. The retail diesel and gasoline price series most relevant to restaurants is released weekly on a fixed schedule, so a vendor's fuel surcharge can be checked against a number nobody at your distributor sets.
- BLS (Bureau of Labor Statistics) — the U.S. price, wage & jobs statistics agency
- USDA Market News — USDA’s public market-price reports
- USDA Livestock Mandatory Reporting (LMR) — mandatory packer price reporting to USDA
- USDA Dairy Product Sales Report (NDPSR) — the weekly U.S. dairy price benchmark
- FRED (Federal Reserve Economic Data) — the public front door to U.S. economic data
- NOAA Fisheries — the U.S. ocean-fisheries & landings agency
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