Sampson County residents look to be paying almost a dollar more a gallon for gas than they were in March, when The Sampson Independent last reported on the rising cost of fuel.
As May begins, the upward trend in fuel costs appears to be continuing across all fuel categories, from regular unleaded to diesel.
According to the American Automobile Association’s gas price tracker, the average cost of regular gasoline in Sampson County currently sits at $4.08 per gallon, up 99 cents from the March 9 average of $3.093. The county’s average gas price throughout 2025 had previously hovered around $2.82 per gallon before the recent surge.
Despite the increase, Sampson County remains among the least expensive counties in North Carolina for fuel. The county currently ranks as the third lowest in the state for average gas prices, trailing only Ashe and Clay counties. Two months ago, Sampson ranked seventh-lowest statewide.
North Carolina’s statewide average also continues climbing toward record territory. The current statewide average for regular gasoline stands at $4.207 per gallon, approaching the record average of $4.671 set June 13, 2022. By comparison, the statewide average one year ago was $2.855 per gallon.
Prices across all fuel grades, including regular, mid-grade, premium and diesel, have steadily increased in recent weeks. Premium gasoline has surpassed $5 per gallon in some areas.
Residents interviewed were upset over the rising cost, but declined to provide their names when asked to provide their feelings.
“It’s ridiculous the way they’ve hiked it up this high,” one Clinton resident remarked.
“They’re too high. It’s been rising and rising. You think maybe it’ll stop, but no, it keeps rising,” a Keener resident shared.
“Them prices need to drop as soon as possible,” another Clinton resident added.
When informed that prices in March averaged just over $3 per gallon, all three residents said they were surprised at how quickly costs had risen over the past two months.
According to Catherine Ezzell-Joyner, president of Ezzell Trucking in Sampson County, said the rise in fuel costs has a trickled down impact, meaning higher fuel is going to “drive higher prices in nearly everything consumers buy, from groceries to medical supplies.”
“After four years of the worst freight recession the US has experienced, the industry was finally seeing conditions align for a real recovery heading into 2026, but the oil shock has delayed the demand catalyst that was needed to translate supply-side gains into actual rate recovery and margin rebuilding,” Ezzell-Joyner wrote in an email response she sent to The Independent.
Ezzell-Joyner noted that fuel accounts for approximately 30-40 percent of total operating costs, and when prices spike sharply so does the cost of moving every good in America: “at the end of the day, these costs don’t stay in the cab of a truck – they ripple through the entire economy. We have a saying in the industry: ‘If you got it, a truck brought it,’” meaning, again that higher fuel will drive higher costs for everything a consumer is likely to need and use.
Margins, she said, are small in this business, but higher fuel prices shrink this even further, especially for small carriers. “For many in this industry, the goal isn’t growth, it’s survival. Ezzell has certainly not been insulated, but we are very fortunate to have great customers who work with us to create a plan to succeed in times like these.”
The average price of diesel in North Carolina is currently $5.48 per gallon.
In Clinton, prices for regular gasoline currently range from approximately $3.99 to $4.19 per gallon. In Newton Grove, prices range between $4.19 and $4.20.
In Roseboro, at the time of publication, the Speedway located between West and East Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard listed regular gasoline at $4.13 per gallon. Prices at other stations in town could not be independently verified before press time.