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FUEL COSTS TROUBLES * USA - Pricey diesel fuel drives up trucking companies' costs
National average at $4.65; San Diego County's far higher
San Diego,CAL,USA -The San Diego Union Tribune by Bruce V. Bigelow -May 24, 2008: -- A new characteristic in the latest unrelenting run-up in crude-oil costs became apparent yesterday in San Diego and across the nation: Retail fuel prices don't sleep... In San Diego County, for example, motorists awakened yesterday to discover that the average cost of a gallon of diesel fuel increased 13 cents overnight to $5.06, according to the Utility Consumers' Action Network. The average price for regular gasoline rose 3 cents to $4.07...
Nationally, the price of a gallon of regular gas rose 4.4 cents overnight to a record average of $3.88, according to AAA and the Oil Price Information Service. Diesel prices in the United States rose 5.9 cents to a record national average of $4.65... The effect of escalating diesel prices was acute at a Unocal 76 truck stop near the Otay Mesa border crossing that advertised a cash price of $5.25 a gallon for No. 2 diesel... (Photos by EDUARDO CONTRERAS / Union-Tribune - 1 · Trucker Francisco Sepulveda filled his big rig's tank at a truck stop near the Otay Mesa border crossing yesterday. An industry group projects that trucking companies will spend almost 38 percent more on diesel fuel this year than in 2007 - 2 · A sign at the truck stop advertised the soaring price of diesel fuel) * Trucking shifts to crisis gear - Nearly 1,000 U.S. trucking companies filed bankruptcy petitions in the first quarter, up 21 percent from a year earlier
Tulsa,OK,USA -Tulsa World, by ROBERT S. CROSS by D.R. STEWART -25 May 2008: -- ... High fuel prices are crippling the airline industry and chopping into household budgets, but no sector of the economy has been hit harder than the trucking industry, executives and analysts say... Record high diesel prices are driving trucking companies into bankruptcy at rates not seen since the 2000-2001 recession, but they also are spurring a host of fuel conservation initiatives, industry officials said... How bad is it for truckers and trucking companies?... The rising price of diesel fuel for the 3 million commercial Class 8 trucks and 3.4 million commercial drivers in the United States is not only causing significant bankruptcies. It is increasing the price of everything trucks haul, which is 70 percent of everything Americans use or consume... But down the road, Donald Broughton, who follows the trucking industry for Avondale Partners LLC in Nashville, Tenn, said, the economy could be in for significant inflation aftershocks because during this industry downturn, unlike 2000-2001, truck capacity is being eliminated, not just idled. That means increased pricing power for trucking industry survivors — and further price increases for consumer goods... In theory, truckers can recover higher fuel bills through fuel surcharges. Surcharges are assessed shippers based on the national average diesel fuel price published by the U.S. Department of Energy each Monday... But when diesel prices rise each day, as they have in recent weeks, independent drivers and trucking companies end up with fuel bills not fully covered by the fuel surcharges... And, when it costs upwards of $1,300 to fill a truck's fuel tank, fuel costs mount rapidly...
To withstand rising fuel bills, trucking companies are adopting a host of fuel-saving measures, from reducing highway speeds and minimizing engine idling to adopting fuel-saving software, single wide-base tires and aerodynamic fairings on trucks... EPA estimates that a commercial truck can save 400 gallons of diesel fuel per year by using wide-base tires... Companies also are retrofitting trucks with aerodynamic options such as roof fairings, which deflect air on the cab roof; cab extenders, which reduce the gap between the cab and the trailer; and front bumper air dams, which reduce air flow beneath the truck... Improving aerodynamics can increase fuel economy 15 percent, which would result in fuel savings of $3,644 a year, according to the EPA... Soaring diesel prices will spur additional innovations in the trucking industry, officials say... "It's like a forest fire that cleans out the underbrush and smaller trees and allows the stronger trees to grow," said Dan Taylor, senior vice president of marketing and sales at Melton Truck Lines Inc.... (Photo: An eastbound truck rolls through Tulsa on Interstate 44 near Lewis Avenue)Labels: fuel costs troubles
posted by Unknown @ 7:35 AM
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