Across the United States, the price of diesel fuel has reached levels that the physical infrastructure of commerce was never designed to accommodate — pump displays are maxing out, and the economy is straining under the weight of costs that touch nearly every aspect of daily life. At $8.09 a gallon in California and climbing, diesel is no longer merely a fuel expense; it is a pressure applied simultaneously to the farmer, the trucker, the builder, and the family standing in the grocery aisle. What happens when the price of moving things becomes too high to display is also, quietly, a question