National Average Price for Regular Unleaded Current: $3.460; Month Ago: $3.619; Year Ago: $3.592. National Average Price for Diesel Current: $3.789; Month Ago: $3.926; Year Ago: $3.909.

The American Trucking Associations was joined by eight trucking organizations and affiliates in a renewed effort to repeal the outdated and counterproductive federal excise tax, or FET, on heavy-duty trucks and trailers. The coalition sent a letter to the leaders of Senate Finance Committee and House Ways & Means Committee to express strong support for the Modern, Clean, and Safe Trucks Act. The bipartisan legislation would repeal the FET and immediately reduce the cost of new, cleaner, and safer trucks by 12 percent, making it easier for fleets to upgrade their equipment. “Eliminating this tax will remove a barrier to retiring older trucks that lack modern emissions control and safety technologies, allowing owners to replace them with modern, clean models that are safer and more environmentally friendly,” the coalition wrote.

American Trucking Associations’ Technology & Maintenance Council and Decisiv Inc. said combined parts and labor expenses fell 1.4% during the fourth quarter of 2023. In the latest Decisiv/TMC North American Service Event Benchmark Report, TMC and Decisiv found that 25 key VMRS systems dipped in the final quarter of 2023, reversing a 2.1% increase the previous quarter. The decrease was driven largely by parts costs, which dropped 2.2% in the fourth quarter of 2023 while labor costs fell 0.2%. While quarter-over-quarter parts and labor costs both declined in the last three months of the year, the parts-to-labor ratio held steady at about 1.5 for the past year. On a year-over-year basis, combined parts and labor costs in final quarter of 2023 were 0.2% higher than the same quarter in 2022. However, in the annual comparison, a 2.2% drop in parts prices was offset by a 4.0% rise in labor costs.