Following the unprecedented surge in fuel prices following Hurricane Katrina, the American Trucking Associations has asked that the Energy Information Administration report fuel prices biweekly until the volatility subsides.
“In light of very volatile fuel prices, it would be extremely helpful if you directed EIA to report prices twice a week until fuel pricing becomes more stable,” ATA President Bill Graves wrote in a Sept. 6 letter to Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman. “This change would provide the trucking industry with more accurate fuel pricing and help it make better business decisions.”
Many fleets peg fuel surcharges to the federal government’s weekly price update, so doubling the number of updates could mean more or less continuous adjustments of invoices as well.
The industry, which consumes more than 35 billion gallons of diesel each year, is on pace to spend an unprecedented $80 billion on diesel fuel this year, $18 billion more than a year earlier, ATA says. That follows a $10 billion increase in fuel costs over 2003.
For state-by-state diesel prices, updated daily, go to http://www.etrucker.com/apps/promiles/fuelprices.asp.
