Fuel

Trucking firms are revved up for 2018, with predictions of tight capacity and strong demand for freight hauling setting the stage for an anticipated big year ahead for the industry, and indicators pointing to a potentially sustained period of business expansion in the United States and around the globe.

The U.S. average retail price of diesel inched up 0.2 cent to $2.903, as oil climbed over $59 a barrel to the highest level since June 2015 amid forecasts of tighter supplies.

Libya’s oil industry revival suffered a setback Tuesday after an explosion at a pipeline carrying crude to the OPEC nation’s biggest export terminal. Oil rallied.

Oil traded near $57 a barrel for a third day before data expected to show that surplus crude inventories in the U.S. continued to diminish as global markets rebalance.

The U.S. average retail price of diesel slipped 0.9 cent to $2.901 a gallon. The cost of trucking's main fuel dropped in all regions, except New England (up 2.4 cents) and the Central Atlantic (unchanged).

Love’s Travel Stops added 357 truck parking spaces as a result of opening four new sites. The locations opened Dec.14 in Hope Hull, Ala.; Brush, Colo.; Bushnell, Fla.; and Bellville, Ohio.

2017 was a year of anticipation for the freight transportation industry, leading up to the long-awaited Dec. 18 mandate for broad adoption of electronic logging devices to track hours of service.

Big Oil’s slump is over and industry domination beckons, according to Goldman Sachs Group Inc.

ATA Chief Economist Bob Costello (right) looks back on the 2017 year in trucking, calling it a "transition year" and expecting better things ahead for 2018. His interview with TT's Joe Howard is part of our Dec. 13 LiveOnWeb program, "2017 Year in Review."

WASHINGTON — The Trump administration is sticking with its neutral stance on whether to increase federal fuel taxes to finance big-scale transportation projects, infrastructure policy adviser D.J. Gribbin said Dec. 12.