Diesel prices continued their downward trend this week, losing 2.1 cents in the fuel's third straight drop

, according to weekly figures released by the Department of Energy.

Trucking's main fuel fell to a national average of $2.903 a gallon this week. Diesel is down 5.8 cents in three weeks. Prior to the declines, diesel jumped 3.3 cents after dropping 19.9 cents over five straight weeks. This week's price is 36.1 cents higher than the same week last year.

While the price of diesel was down in every region, the West Coast and Central Atlantic regions had the highest prices, averaging $3.057 a gallon and $3.022 a gallon, respectively. Meanwhile, prices were lowest in the Gulf Coast and Midwest regions, where it averaged $2.857 and $2.865 a gallon, respectively.

Meanwhile, after rising above $76 a barrel at the close of trading Friday on increased diesel demand, crude oil fell 1.5 percent Monday, its worst in four sessions, according to reports by MarketWatch. Oil fell to $74.95 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, the news service reported. Bloomberg attributes the decline to a stronger dollar against the euro.