Logistics

We’ve now had four reasonably sharp weekly declines in the national average price of diesel fuel. While retail prices have dropped more than 41 cents a gallon over that span, the average is still astronomically high — $1.506 more than the average one year ago.

The national diesel average declined 14.9 cents last week to $4.353 a gallon, the fourth straight drop that has lowered the price of trucking’s main fuel by 41.1 cents a gallon, the Department of Energy reported.

Canadian transportation firm Mullen Group Income Fund’s second-quarter profit rose to C$19.9 million, or 25 cents a unit, from C$16.6 million, or 21 cents, a year ago.

Logistics firm US1 Industries said its second-quarter net income slipped to $813,000, or 6 cents a share, from $1.1 million, or 9 cents, a year ago.

The cost advantage offered by shipping direct and avoiding paying for warehousing and inventory is dwindling, possibly forever, as the price of fuel rises. As a result, more carriers have started looking at warehousing to play a larger role in the logistics process.

The cost of retail diesel fell another 10.1 cents last week to $4.502 a gallon, the third-straight weekly decline in the national average that has cut 26.2 cents from trucking’s main fuel, the U.S. Department of Energy said.

Canadian firm Contrans Income Fund’s second-quarter income rose compared with a year ago, due largely to a big income tax charge in the previous second quarter.

The Columbia River Crossing between Portland, Ore., and Vancouver, Wash., has received national priority status from the White House to expedite the project, the U.S. Department of Transportation said late Tuesday.