Key Currency Exchange Rates for Friday, 3/22/24

National Average Price for Regular – Current: $2.532; Month Ago: $2.544; Year Ago: $2.290. National Average Price for Diesel – Current: $2.930; Month Ago: $2.976; Year Ago: $2.515.

“Trends is an important record of how the trucking industry is performing,” said ATA Chief Economist Bob Costello. “That’s why it is on the shelves of business leaders and policymakers across North America. “This year’s edition shows that 2023 was a very challenging year, but the industry weathered the storm, moving more than 11 billion tons of freight during the year,” he said. Among the key findings in this year’s report: *Preliminary figures indicate that trucks moved 11.18 billion tons of freight in 2023, down from the 11.46 billion tons hauled the previous year. *Preliminary figures indicate that the industry saw revenues grow to $987 billion, up from $940.8 billion in 2022. *Trucking employed 8.5 million people in industry-related jobs, including 3.55 million professional drivers in 2023. *The industry remains one made up of small businesses, with 95.5% of carriers operating 10 or fewer trucks and 99.6% operating fewer than 100 power units. *Cross-border trade remained a robust source of freight for motor carriers, with trucks moving 66.5% of surface trade between the US and Canada, and 84.5% of goods across the Mexican border in 2023.

Futures were little changed after slipping 0.3 percent on Tuesday, the first decline in four sessions. Crude inventories fell by 1.56 million barrels last week, while motor-fuel stockpiles gained 520,000 barrels, the industry-funded American Petroleum Institute was said to report. A Bloomberg survey forecast a 2.45 million-barrel oil-supply drop ahead of government data Wednesday. “The U.S. shale machine is poised to shift up a gear as producers make hay amid the healthier price backdrop,” said Stephen Brennock, an analyst at PVM Oil Associates Ltd. West Texas Intermediate for December delivery slid 8 cents to $57.12 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange at 10:04 a.m. London time. Total volume traded was 12 percent below the 100-day average. Prices slipped from the highest level in more than two years to close at $57.20 on Tuesday. Click Read More below for additional information.