Editorial: Diesel Fuel Price Pain Worsens

Today’s fuel price and supply situation can be best summed up by repeating that old joke that goes, “Smile, things could be worse. So I did, and they were.”

The latest statistics from the Energy Information Administration show that the nation’s average diesel fuel cost rose 2.1 cents last week to $1.439. As if that wasn’t bad enough news, diesel prices in New England and the Central Atlantic region skyrocketed again, with the average in the six New England states up 13 cents, to $1.966 a gallon, and 15.3 cents in the Central Atlantic, to $1.847.

The northeastern United States is the region most dependent on Middle Eastern oil. It is also the area where home heating oil — which is virtually identical in composition to diesel fuel — is most used. The combination of production restraints by members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries designed to boost prices and a harsh turn in winter weather has led to supply shortages and rapidly escalating prices.

The fast-rising prices are reeking havoc on the bottom lines of truckers across the nation, and Transport Topics has begun receiving reports, as yet unconfirmed, that fuel at any price is unavailable in some locations.

We are also getting calls from owner-operators who have parked their trucks rather than pay the price for fuel. And we’ve heard from drivers who saw fuel prices rise between the time they passed a service station while making a delivery and a few hours later on the return trip.

The sharply higher prices in the East are in contrast to what has happened over the past 12 months, as fuel generally spiked on the West Coast, with smaller increases in the rest of the nation. Today, the diesel average in New England is some 42 cents a gallon higher than in California.

This disparity could boost support for a proposal by U.S. Xpress Enterprises to base fuel surcharges on a regional average, rather than a national indicator.

U.S. Xpress Co-chairman Max Fuller said the company was unable to impose fuel surcharges even though diesel averages on the West Coast surged during the second quarter of 1999, as the national average rose only a cent or two. This scenario is exactly what is now occurring in New England and Central Atlantic.