The average price of diesel fuel continued to rise, going up another 1.8 cents a gallon to $1.388, the Department of Energy said Sept. 3. In addition, gasoline fell 0.9 cent to $1.394 last week. Over the last three weeks, the price of diesel fuel has risen 8.5 cents a gallon. The total increase during that time has added $25.50 to the cost of a trucker’s typical fill-up of two 150-gallon fuel tanks. The average diesel price is now at its highest level since Oct. 1, 2001 when the price was $1.39 a gallon. At this time last year, prices were rising steadily before spiking to more than $1.50 a gallon in the immediate aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks. In subsequent weeks, however, prices fell rapidly as travel slowed and fuel demand relaxed. California, the West Coast’s largest contributing state, rose 3 cents a gallon to $1.586 – a full eight cents higher than its regional cost. That is more than double the difference from just one month ago.