ATA seeks action on crippling fuel prices

ATA seeks action on crippling fuel prices The American Trucking Associations has called upon Congress and the Bush administration to take steps to address the record high fuel prices facing the U.S. trucking industry.
   The Arlington, Va.-based association is forecasting that the industry will spend $135 billion on fuel in 2008, up $22 billion from 2007. ATA President and Chief Executive Officer Bill Graves said for some motor carriers, fuel is beginning to surpass labor as the largest operating expense, accounting for as much as 25 percent of total operating costs. To highlight the highest prolonged fuel prices ever seen by the industry, the ATA said the cost to fill fuel tanks on a typical tractor-trailer has increased 116 percent, or $615, in just five years.
   'The trucking industry is making great strides in its efforts to reduce overall fuel consumption. But an affordable supply of diesel fuel is imperative to keep our trucks moving,' Graves said. 'There is little to suggest that fuel prices will decline any time soon. Yet every day, ATA hears new stories from its members about how escalating fuel prices are hurting their businesses and affecting their livelihood.'
   The ATA wants the government to raise the country’s diesel fuel supply by increasing refining capacity and by conducting “environmentally sound” exploration of Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and Outer Continental Shelf.
   “Because trucks haul 70 percent of all freight tonnage, rising fuel costs have the potential to increase the cost of everything transported by truck, including food, retail and manufactured goods,” the ATA said.
   Through a federation of other trucking groups, industry-related conferences, and its 50 affiliated state trucking associations, ATA represents more than 37,000 members covering every type of motor carrier in the United States.