Fuel Price Rides Roller Coaster
The track left by diesel prices in 1999 offered a wild ride, from the lowest level of a decade to the highest point seen in years, with several ups and downs along the way.
But the course was mostly a rising one. After posting a historic low of 95.3 cents a gallon on Feb. 22, the average price of fuel topped out at $1.304 on Nov. 29, a height that had not been reached since December 1996.
The climb of fuel costs triggered fuel surcharges at many trucking companies, announcements of lower earnings by some and had analysts constantly revising their predictions of what to expect next. Forces pummeling the price of diesel included the railroads, the Internet, the Y2K “bug” and, above all, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries.
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In its final report of 1999, the Energy Information Administration pegged the national average at $1.298 a gallon.
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For the full story, see the Jan. 10 print edition of Transport Topics. Subscribe today.
