Truckers Protest as Diesel Prices Surge

Diesel fuel prices at Northeastern pumps continued to soar, prompting letters of protest from several trucking associations hit hard by the increase.

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	DOE Fuel Prices
	Week of Jan. 24:
	region	price	change
	National	141.8	+11.1
	New England	183.6	+39.5
	East Coast	150.5	+19.3
	Central Atlantic	169.4	+30.9
	Lower Atlantic	139.4	+12.5

The American Petroleum Institute reported the lowest distillate inventories in two and a half years, which led the federal government to relax hours-of-service rules for truckers delivering heating oil.

API reported Jan. 25 that distillate supplies – which include heating oil and diesel fuel – have fallen by 8.3 million barrels to 114.7 million, a far greater decline than expected by the institute. The last time distillate inventories fell this low was June 1997.

A blast of bitter cold throughout the Northeast and stretching down the Eastern Seaboard has shrunk distillate supplies and caused a spike that has doubled the wholesale price of diesel fuel – to more than $1.40 a gallon, according to the Oil Price Information Service, Rockville, Md.

The effect of the cold weather was exacerbated by disruptions at refineries in Marcus Hook, Pa.; Wilmington, Del.; and Philadelphia.

Retail prices of more that $2.25 a gallon have been reported in the Northeast, sending trucking companies reeling from costs so high that their ability to haul loads is threatened.

Truckers like Tom Bertothy, chairman of Classic Motor Lines, which operates about 160 trucks out of Altoona, Pa., have written to Congress asking for action to rescind fuel taxes, or freeze the price of fuel.

"Many shippers refuse to pay the fuel surcharge, especially to smaller-size carriers," said Bertothy. "And you can't collect the surcharge in advance, which means you have to come up with more and more money just to fill up."

Executives of several trucking associations, including Massachusetts, Connecticut and Pennsylvania, also wrote to Congress, asking for the Department of Energy to release oil from the federal strategic petroleum reserve as a way to increase supply and lower prices. Energy Secretary Bill Richardson has ruled out using the reserves.

The Associated Press reported that Gov. Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire has called for an investigation of possible price-fixing in heating oil prices and urged President Clinton to increase financial aid for low-income users of heating oil.