The American Trucking Association (ATA) today has called upon President of the United States George W Bush to address the growing crisis faced by truckers by increasing fuel costs, by tapping into the nations Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR).

In his letter to the President of the United States(*), Bill Graves the ATA President urged action, outlining the rapid rise in the cost of the trucking industries life-blood of diesel fuel, noting that it costs about $1,000 dollars to fill up the average tractor trailer.

Graves also noted that despite the industries conservation efforts, there remains an ever increasing gap between what savings can be achieved via efficiency improvements and the continued upsurge of fuel costs.

In urging President Bush to open up the SPR to ease the burden on truckers and the industry, Graves also expressed concern the rising energy prices has on the over-all economy. “We are very concerned that out-of-control energy prices will greatly magnify our current economic slowdown and delay our economic recovery,” said Graves. “If households have to spend their forthcoming tax rebate checks on energy, the stimulus will be significantly limited. The more consumers spend on fuel the less they have to spend on other goods or services.

The trucking industry is on a pace to spend a record $135 billion dollars on diesel fuel this year, an addition of some $22 billion dollars over last years total.  According to the ATA, fuel costs have now risen to a point where they now exceed Labour as the trucking industry’s biggest cost.  More than 750,000 motor carriers in the United States transport nearly 70 percent of tonnage carried by all modes of domestic freight transportation.

Source: BusinessWire and the American Trucking Association

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