The American Trucking Associations (ATA) has asked the Secretary of Energy to direct the Energy Information Administration to report fuel prices twice weekly until fuel price volatility eases, according to ATA information.
The change would provide the trucking industry with more accurate fuel pricing and help it make better business decisions, Bill Graves, ATA president, said in a letter to Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman.
For many motor carriers, fuel often represents the second-highest expense after labor and can account for as much as 25 percent of total operating costs.
The industry, which consumes over 35 billion gallons of diesel each year, is on pace to spend an unprecedented $80 billion on diesel fuel this year, $18 billion more than a year earlier. That follows a $10 billion increase in fuel costs over 2003, ATA said.