AAA Daily Fuel Gauge Report for Friday, 12/22/2017

National Average Price for Regular Unleaded Current: $3.903; Month Ago: $3.703; Year Ago: $3.297. National Average Price for Diesel Current: $5.215; Month Ago: $4.995; Year Ago: $3.508.

FreightWaves CEO Craig Fuller calls the truck driver shortage a “myth” in a recent piece of self-promotion, but his assertion collapses under the weight of facts and data. Fuller claims the mythical shortage is an ATA fabrication—a narrative perpetuated for our convenience. Of course, we’re not alone in reporting this issue. Driver shortages are global in scope, with growing vacancies felt across the Americas, Asia, and Europe, and documented in IRU’s 2022 Global Driver Shortage Report: In Europe, driver shortages jumped by 42% from 2020 to 2021, with vacant driver positions reaching 71,000 in Romania, 80,000 in both Poland and Germany, and 100,000 in the UK. In Mexico, shortages rose by 30% to reach 54,000, while in China, they increased by 140%, reaching 1.8 million.

Sun Chemical has formed a Food and Nutrition Group. The recently formed group will extend existing Sun Chemical and DIC Corporation expertise in color and algae cultivation to provide coloring solutions and nutraceutical ingredients to the dietary supplement, food and beverage industries. The Food and Nutrition Group was developed as part of DIC Corporation’s vision of transforming portfolios to achieve continued future growth. The group will leverage Sun Chemical’s advanced research and development coloring expertise to support new product development initiatives for both natural and synthetic food color. The research and development team at DIC Corporation headquarters is actively working with venture capital groups in developing bio-based nutraceutical ingredients, and Sun Chemical is committed to grow the new business group and will make additional investments to accelerate its growth.