National Average Price for Regular – Current: $2.589; Month Ago: $2.337; Year Ago: $2.215. National Average Price for Diesel – Current: $2.720; Month Ago: $2.527; Year Ago: $2.358.

Futures climbed 0.6 percent in New York for a fourth day of gains. Kuwait joined the U.A.E. in promising to pump less oil after Saudi Arabia called on OPEC producers to cut more supply. U.S. crude inventories declined by 7.21 million barrels last week to the lowest level since early January, according to the Energy Information Administration. The market is digesting “very strong draws in inventories across the board,” Adam Wise, who runs a $8 billion oil and natural gas bond and private equity portfolio at John Hancock Financial Services Inc. in Boston, said by telephone. “We’ve also seen comments out of Saudi Arabia supporting prices in the form of export reduction. Sentiment is finally being forced to pay attention to the fundamentals.” Click Read More below for additional details.

American Trucking Associations’ advanced seasonally adjusted (SA) For-Hire Truck Tonnage Index increased 0.5% in August after falling 1.1% in July. In August, the index equaled 110.3 (2015=100) compared with 109.8 in July. “August’s monthly gain, while small, was the first since March,” said ATA Chief Economist Bob Costello. “It is important to remember that ATA’s tonnage data is dominated by for-hire contract freight, with a very limited amount of spot market freight. I continue to believe that tonnage has not recovered to pre-pandemic levels for two main reasons - broader supply chain issues, like semiconductor shortages, as well as industry specific difficulties, including the driver shortage and lack of equipment. “Despite some supply chain issues, demand remains strong for trucking services generally. Truckload carriers are operating fewer trucks than a year earlier, which makes it difficult to increase freight volumes significantly,” he said.