Ohio Cuts Diesel Tax to $0.0001 as Georgia and N.C. Windows Close Nov. 30

Three states on the main routes to Florida are currently collecting close to nothing in diesel excise tax, and two of those suspensions expire on November 30. Ohio dropped its diesel rate from 47 cents a gallon to $0.0001 at 12:01 a.m. on October 4 and runs that holiday through 11:59 p.m. on January 2, 2027, under emergency legislation signed by Governor Mike DeWine. Georgia suspended its 37.3 cent diesel levy at 12:01 a.m. on September 29 under Executive Order 09.28.26.01, and Governor Brian Kemp has since extended it twice, most recently through 11:59 p.m. on November 30. North Carolina took its motor fuel excise tax to zero cents a gallon from October 10 through November 30 under Session Law 2026-62, signed October 9. Transport Topics puts the suspended North Carolina rate at 41 cents; the state's own notice states only that the rate is now zero.

Georgia's Department of Revenue cites global market instability and petroleum supply disruptions as the basis for the emergency. Ohio's taxation department describes its 90 day holiday as relief for drivers and says fuel retailers are legally required under Ohio law to pass the entire saving through at the pump, with non-compliance treated as an unfair or deceptive practice.

The transport angle

Look at where these three states sit. I-75 from the upper Midwest to Florida crosses Ohio and Georgia. I-95 from the Northeast to Florida crosses North Carolina and Georgia. A single enclosed load running Detroit to Palm Beach picks up two of the three suspensions on one trip, and so does a New York to Miami run. South Carolina sits between North Carolina and Georgia on I-95 and has suspended nothing, so the relief on that lane is in segments rather than end to end.

The size of it is modest but not trivial. A loaded nine car enclosed rig returns somewhere around five to six miles per gallon, so it burns about 18 gallons every 100 miles. At Georgia's 37.3 cents that is roughly $7 per 100 miles of Georgia interstate, and at North Carolina's 41 cents it is about $7.50 per 100 miles of North Carolina. Over a full southbound trip the two together come to a tank of fuel, not a rate change.

Whether it reaches the shipper is a different question. Interstate carriers settle fuel tax by miles driven per jurisdiction rather than by where they filled up, so the saving flows through the quarterly return, not the pump receipt. North Carolina's notice is explicit that carriers must keep filing motor carrier returns and keep reporting gallons and miles during the suspension. Georgia has published separate IFTA filing guidance for the suspension period. Ohio's holiday page does not address interstate carriers at all. The practical read for an owner booking a car: this is a real cost reduction for the carrier on those lanes, it is temporary, and it is small enough that no broker is going to volunteer a discount for it.

What the expiry date does change is sequencing. Snowbird volume on the Florida lanes builds through November and peaks in the first half of December. The Georgia and North Carolina suspensions end on November 30, right as that curve steepens. Carriers will not re-rate a lane over 40 cents a gallon, but anyone watching fuel surcharges should expect them to firm up in December rather than ease, and Ohio staying zeroed until January 2 does not offset two states going back to full rate on I-95.

What to do about it

If a southbound move is already planned for this month, there is no reason to rush it for the tax. The saving sits with the carrier, and a compressed booking window costs more in schedule risk than 40 cents a gallon saves.

Do push back on a fuel surcharge quoted as a fixed line item through December. Ask what diesel price the surcharge assumes and when it was last reset. Ranges in our cost model are built on posted diesel averages, not on state-by-state excise, and a surcharge that was set in October on a pre-suspension assumption is worth a question.

For a car moving out of Charlotte to Amelia Island or Atlanta to Amelia Island in the next three weeks, the more useful fact is availability, not fuel. Show and auction season on the Florida coast runs through March, and enclosed transport slots on those short in-region hops go first.