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Released: February 10, 2009
Shipment Index 18-Year Low
NASSTRAC shippers have expressed a drop in freight moving through their supply chains due to the recession, and the Cass Freight Index of domestic shipping reflects this observation. In fact, the index dropped at its sharpest rate ever in the month of January, reaching its lowest point since the key measure was created 18 years ago. The closely watched index, down at a double-digit rate since last summer, decreased nearly 25 percent in January, exceeding an approximate 23 percent drop in December. The index fell 5.7 percent from December to January, adding new evidence the staggering American economy is worsening in 2009.
Shippers also cut back spending at a record pace, reducing freight expenditures 22.8 percent compared to the same month last year. The spending decline likely included some reduced costs from falling fuel prices, although the measure of expenditures also fell 12 percent from December to January—a signal that industrial production and manufacturing continue to decline.
Diesel Drops 2.7 Cents to $2.219
Diesel fuel fell 2.7 cents to $2.219 a gallon, continuing a 30-week downward trend and leaving it at the lowest level in nearly four years, the Department of Energy reported to NASSTRAC Monday. The decline left the national average price of trucking’s main fuel $1.061 below the same week last year and at the lowest level since it registered $2.16 on May 30, 2005.
Diesel has fallen in 28 of the 30 weeks since July, gaining only 0.1 cent at the end of September and 2.3 cents during a week in mid-January, DOE figures showed. Meanwhile, gasoline rose 3.4 cents to $1.926, the highest since Nov. 17, when it topped $2 a gallon, at $2.072. Gas, which has risen approximately 31 cents from an almost five-year low of $1.613 set six weeks ago, is $1.034 less than the same week a year ago. Meanwhile, crude oil has hovered around $40 a barrel for the past week, down more than $100 from the $145.18 closing-price record set last July on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Each week, DOE surveys about 350 diesel filling stations to compile a national snapshot average price.
States Look Toward More Toll Roads For Revenue
More and more, states are making toll roads a permanent part of the nation’s highway system and eyeing toll dollars as a way to plug gaping budget deficits. This is a growing concern that has been top-of-mind the last few years for NASSTRAC shippers and carriers as they look for ways to keep their transportation costs down.
This concern is underscored when you consider increasing toll road development. In fact, between 1992 and 2006, new toll road development increased to 75 miles a year from 50 miles, and over the next decade is likely to reach more than 180 miles annually, according to a report from the Federal Highway Administration. The state of Texas leads the country in developing toll roads, with 78 projects either completed or in development, according to the report. California follows Texas, and Florida is third. According to the report, although toll revenues are currently a relatively small part of overall highway revenues ($8 billion out of $165 nationally), tolls are an essential source of income for some states.
Some toll projects focus on entirely new highways. According to the report, most of the new toll development is happening in states with new, fast-growing urban centers, such as Colorado, and in states that have had toll roads for decades, such as Illinois and Pennsylvania. Other projects consist of such features as high-occupancy toll lanes added to existing highways in congested urban areas, such as Northern Virginia, around Washington, D.C. The report also found that, while most of the new toll facilities are developed by public agencies, more than 20% of them now involve public-private partnerships. As tolls on existing roads are rising, states also are exploring opportunities to add tolls to free interstates. NASSTRAC will continue to keep a close watch on developments in toll roads.
Senate Passes Stimulus Bill
The Senate on Feb. 10 passed an economic stimulus bill by a vote of 61 to 37, with three Republicans supporting it. The $883 billion bill now heads to a House-Senate conference to resolve differences between this measure and the $819 billion version passed by the House on Jan. 28. President Obama, who hopes to sign the bill into law before President's Day on Monday, was lobbying for it in Fort Myers, Fla., where he said in a speech: "Most importantly, this plan will put people to work right now by making direct investments in areas like health care, energy, education and infrastructure—investments that save jobs, create new jobs and new businesses and help our economy grow again." |
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