The price posted on a diesel pump may look like a problem primarily for truck drivers, but with diesel now above $6 per gallon in Georgia, the effects could eventually be felt by almost every business — and household — in Chattooga County.

AAA’s latest figures put the Georgia average for diesel at $6.11 per gallon, compared with just $3.56 one year ago. That represents an increase of more than $2.50 per gallon, or roughly 72 percent, in a year. Georgia’s current diesel price is also a record high, according to AAA.

Nationally, the U.S. Energy Information Administration reported an average of $5.967 per gallon for the week ending September 7, up nearly 37 cents in just one week and more than $2.20 from a year earlier.

For a rural county like Chattooga, the consequences can reach considerably further than the fuel island.

Local manufacturers depend on diesel-powered trucks to bring in raw materials, components, packaging and supplies and then carry finished products to customers. Even a manufacturer that uses relatively little diesel inside its plant can therefore be exposed to diesel prices multiple times during the production and distribution process.

When trucking companies cannot absorb those higher costs, they may add or increase fuel surcharges. A Georgia moving and hauling company recently described exactly that pressure, saying its fleet of 30 trucks is being hit by sharply higher fuel costs.

Consider a tractor-trailer with two 100-gallon tanks. A 200-gallon fill-up at $6.11 per gallon costs about $1,222. At Georgia’s $3.56 average from a year ago, the same 200 gallons would have cost about $712 — a difference of roughly $510 on a single fill-up.

Multiply that across a fleet and over weeks or months, and the numbers become substantial.

A company purchasing 10,000 gallons of diesel per month would spend approximately $61,100 at today’s Georgia average, compared with about $35,600 at last year’s price — an increase of around $25,500 per month.

Those costs ultimately have to go somewhere.

Businesses can absorb them and accept lower profits, cut expenses elsewhere, increase prices to customers or use some combination of all three. Manufacturers operating on narrow margins or under contracts negotiated before the fuel spike may have less ability to immediately pass those increases along.

The impact can be particularly significant for small trucking companies and owner-operators, where fuel is already one of the largest operating expenses.

It also hits construction companies, grading contractors, logging operations, equipment dealers and service businesses that operate diesel trucks and heavy equipment.

Then there are Chattooga County’s farmers.

Diesel powers tractors, combines, hay equipment and trucks used throughout agricultural operations. Georgia Public Broadcasting recently reported that higher diesel prices are squeezing farmers because commodity prices may already be established, leaving producers with little ability to recover an unexpected increase in fuel expenses.

For a farmer burning 1,000 gallons during planting, haying, harvesting and transportation, the difference between $3.56 and $6.11 represents approximately $2,550 in additional fuel expense.

And the farmer may get hit twice.

The diesel used in the tractor costs more, but so does the trucking required to deliver seed, fertilizer, feed, equipment and other supplies to the farm. Moving the finished agricultural product to market also becomes more expensive.

Eventually, consumers can feel the effects at the grocery store.

Diesel powers much of the nation’s freight network, meaning higher transportation expenses become part of the cost of moving food, building materials, appliances, clothing and countless other products. The Associated Press reports that the national diesel surge is already increasing pressure throughout supply chains, particularly for food and other frequently transported goods.

That makes diesel different from gasoline in an important way.

When gasoline increases, consumers immediately notice what it costs to fill their vehicles. When diesel increases, consumers may pay for it without ever purchasing a gallon themselves.

It can be incorporated into the price of groceries delivered to a Summerville supermarket, materials delivered to a local contractor, freight delivered to a Chattooga County manufacturer or merchandise arriving at a local retailer.

High diesel prices can also put local companies in a difficult competitive position. A business may hesitate to raise prices because competitors are fighting for the same customers, but absorbing dramatically higher transportation costs can eat away at already-tight margins.

National manufacturers are reporting that higher diesel affects virtually every stage of their supply chains. One manufacturer told the Boston Globe that businesses ultimately face three choices: absorb the expense, find efficiencies elsewhere or eventually pass some of the additional cost to customers.

The situation could become particularly important heading into fall.

Diesel demand traditionally receives additional pressure during the agricultural harvest season, while heating oil — a closely related distillate fuel — also begins seeing increased seasonal demand as colder weather approaches.

For Chattooga County, $6-plus diesel isn’t simply a transportation story.

It’s potentially a manufacturing story, a farming story, a construction story, a small-business story and ultimately a household-budget story.

If prices remain near current levels for an extended period, the question for local businesses may increasingly become not whether the additional fuel expense will affect their operations — but how much of that cost they can absorb before some of it has to be passed along to their customers.