National Average Price for Regular Unleaded Current: $3.326; Month Ago: $3.302; Year Ago: $2.396. National Average Price for Diesel Current: $3.653; Month Ago: $3.584; Year Ago: $2.634.

American Trucking Associations’ advanced seasonally adjusted For-Hire Truck Tonnage Index increased 4.3% in February after decreasing 3.2% in January. In February, the index equaled 116.0 (2015=100) compared with 111.3 in January. “After a very soft January, due in part to winter storms, truck tonnage snapped back in February,” said ATA Chief Economist Bob Costello. “February’s level was the highest in a year, yet the index still contracted from a year earlier, suggesting truck freight remains in a recession.” January’s decrease was revised up from our February 20 press release. Compared with February 2023, the index fell 1.4%, which was the twelfth straight year-over-year decline. In January, the index was down 4.5% from a year earlier.

Futures were little changed in New York after gaining 2 percent last week. The number of U.S. rigs targeting oil remained unchanged at 747, Baker Hughes data showed Friday. A repair of the North Sea’s Forties Pipeline System is complete and pressure testing has started, operator Ineos Group said Monday. The halt of the line earlier this month sent prices surging. Oil is heading for a second yearly advance as the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies including Russia prolong supply curbs through the end of 2018. Iraq’s Oil Minister Jabbar Al-Luaibi said Monday that he’s optimistic prices will gain next year with global stockpiles falling and demand rising in China and India. Click Read More below for additional information.