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Fuel Crisis Talking Points
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FUEL
CRISIS TALKING POINTS FOR OTA MEMBERS
Trucking
associations everywhere are receiving media calls regarding
rising fuel prices and their effect on the trucking
industry. To assist members with their media calls regarding
this topic, American Trucking Associations' Office of
Public Affairs has developed the following talking points
to serve as a guide.
If
you need assistance in dealing with the media, please
call Bob Russell or Kalle Applegate at 503-513-0005.
For
the latest diesel prices, go to http://www.truckline.com/fuelpricecrisis.
ATA
and OTA members are decreasing their consumption of
diesel fuel by joining the Environmental Protection
Agency’s SmartWay Transport Partnership Program,
and adopting fuel-saving strategies including aerodynamics,
using biodiesel blends, reducing truck speeds, installing
auxiliary power units and properly inflating tires,
among others.
ATA
has urged the federal government to help bring down
the price of diesel fuel and to alleviate trucking companies’
hardships by doing the following:
- Stop
filling and instead release oil from the Strategic
Petroleum Reserve;
- Establish
a national diesel fuel standard;
- Allow
environmentally responsible exploration of oil-rich
areas in the United States that are now off-limits;
- Allow
environmentally responsible development of crude resources
in oil shale and tar sands in Colorado, Utah and Wyoming;
- Work
with the 50 state Attorneys General to combat any
fuel price gouging that might occur;
- Continue
to fund EPA’s SmartWay Transport Partnership
Program, which encourages fuel-saving strategies;
- Streamline
EPA’s regulatory framework for reviewing and
processing applications for additional refinery operations;
- Require
speed limiters set for 68 mph or lower on all new
trucks;
- Set
a national maximum speed limit of 65 mph;
- Suspend
the collection of the 12 percent federal excise tax
on motor carriers’ purchase of auxiliary power
units (APUs), which cut the consumption of fuels in
idling truck engines;
- Require
states to grant a weight exemption for APUs; and
- Close
a federal loophole that provides a tax benefit for
the exportation of biodiesel.
For
more details, see the letters from ATA to federal government
agencies and President Bush at http://www.truckline.com/fuelpricecrisis.
ATA
will hold a Fuel Summit in the Washington, D.C., area
in the near future to bring the trucking industry together
to discuss the fuel crisis and to give the participants
the tools to use to combat high fuel prices. The date
and specific location of the Summit will be announced
soon.
Rising
fuel costs are having a huge impact on the trucking
industry. For many motor carriers, fuel is now equal
to labor as the highest expense; and for some carriers,
fuel has likely surpassed labor as their largest expense.
Because
trucks haul 70 percent of all freight tonnage, and 80
percent of communities receive their goods exclusively
by truck, rising fuel costs have the potential to increase
the cost of everything that Americans consume that comes
by truck.
The
trucking industry spent over $112 billion fuel in 2007,
and we’re on pace to spend $135 billion in 2008
– a record high. That’s up from $106 billion
in 2006. In 2007, the industry’s diesel expenditures
were about equal to the entire New Zealand economy.
Additionally, at $112.6 billion, the industry’s
diesel bill was 9 percent larger than the entire Kuwaiti
economy, the 6th largest oil exporter in the world.
The
price we are seeing reflected at the pump are caused
by surging crude oil prices, increased global demand
for diesel fuel, and the decline in value of the U.S.
dollar. Demand is not falling. We’re seeing increased
demand both in the United States and internationally,
particularly in China, India and Europe.
The
longer oil prices stay above $100 per barrel, the less
we can expect significant price reductions for diesel.
There is a strong correlation between crude oil prices
and diesel prices. More than 60 percent of what we pay
at the pump is due to the cost of crude. The same is
true for gasoline.
Commercial
trucks consume 53.9 billion gallons of fuel each year.
About 39 billion gallons, or 73 percent, is diesel.
The remaining 27 percent is gasoline.
The
U.S. Energy Information Administration recently predicted
that diesel will average $3.45 per gallon this year,
20 percent higher than the 2007 average. So far in 2008,
diesel prices have risen more than 14 percent.
There
are 42 gallons of oil in a barrel of crude oil. A barrel
of crude oil, when refined, yields about 20 gallons
of gasoline and seven gallons of diesel, as well as
other petroleum products (heating oil, jet fuel, etc.).
In
2006, Canada was the top oil supplier to the U.S., accounting
for 18 percent of U.S. crude oil imports.
To
alleviate future significant fuel price fluctuations,
ATA calls upon Congress and the Bush Administration
to address this crisis situation and move immediately
to take steps to increase diesel fuel supply. These
include increased refining capacity and the environmentally
sound exploration of Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife
Refuge and Outer Continental Shelf. The trucking industry
promotes common-sense measures to expand the fuel supply
while reducing emissions and improving the efficiency
of truck transportation.
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