Fuel Prices Slip, End 7-Week Rise

TT Photo

Snapping a streak of seven weeks of increases, the retail price of diesel fuel edged downward by 0.4 cent to a national average of $1.08 a gallon on April 19.

The downturn — the first since retail prices began to climb from the Feb. 22 low of 95.3 cents — touched off disagreement among analysts as to whether prices would continue to moderate or resume their climb.

From the February low mark — the cheapest price since 1947, when adjusted for inflation - the national average for diesel had climbed 13.7% before falling last week.

The national retail average price reached more than $1.07 cents a gallon on April 4, exceeding the $1.06 threshold established in many shippers’ trucking contracts for the imposition of rate surcharges. In many regions, notably California where refinery problems exacerbated the situation, the price was considerably higher.

The California Trucking Association petitioned Gov. Gray Davis for relief from the requirement to buy the special low-sulfur, reduced-aromatics fuel mandated for the state’s truckers — refinery shutdowns were producing a shortage in California. At the same time, some trucking companies reported that customers were refusing to pay surcharges included in invoices (4-19, p. 5).

The April 19 national average was pulled down by a 2.9-cents-a-gallon drop on the West Coast, led by a 5.9-cent downturn in California.

For the full story, see the April 26 print edition of Transport Topics. Subscribe today.