Diesel Fuel Prices & Trucking Industry Essay

The rise of crude oil has also effected the sales of trucks. With comapnays no buying or spending as much on a truck has hurt the econonmy.

The trucking industry is the lifeblood of the U.S. economy. Nearly 70% of all the freight tonnage moved in the U.S. goes on trucks. Without the industry and our truck drivers, the economy would come to a standstill. To move 9.2 billion tons of freight annually requires nearly 3 million heavy-duty Class 8 trucks and over 3 million truck drivers. It also takes over 37 billion gallons of diesel fuel to move all of that freight. Simply – without trucks, America stops. (trucking.org)

The consumption of the oil cause changes in the supply and demand. The United States produces 11 million barrels of oil every day. We are one of the biggest countries to have a big influence on the production and prices of the oil. The basic supply and demand theory explains that the if a product is produced more, the cheaper it should sell. If a country were to double the output of oil day, prices would fall and the Production is high, but the distribution of oil isn’t keeping up with the market. The United States builds an average of one oil refinery per 10 years. This is a net loss due to the fact construction has slowed down since 1970s. Since 1970s, the United States has 8 less oil refineries today. The reason why we are not oversupplied with cheap oil is because of the other countries’ higher net margin and the only operate at 62% of their capacity. Excess capacity is only there to meet future demand. With demand moving accordingly, oil prices will continue to be set mostly by the market — despite external players’ best efforts. (McFarlane)

When it comes to the environmental impact that gas and diesel engines have. It turns out that gasoline is more unstable than diesel, not because of what its base consists of, but because of the additives it contains. In addition, vehicles that use diesel tend to be more fuel-efficient and produce less greenhouse gases. Diesel is more environmentally friendly. The United States has what is considered to be the dirtiest diesel, but as of June 1, 2010 this is going to be different. U.S. diesel fuel has a lower measure of ignition quality. This means that when it is cold outside, ignition performance is poor and can result in higher emissions. This is why you see truck drivers idling their trucks all night long in cold weather rather than risk a troublesome start in the mornings. But, the sulfur in the diesel that is emitted during cold ignitions and long engine idling is still harmful to the environment because the sulfurs prevent the control of diesel particulate emissions through diesel particulate filters. This is changing, though, since new advanced technologies such as nitrogen oxide absorbers are being developed to reduce these emissions. As for gasoline, it is the non-aliphatic hydrocarbons as well as carcinogenic additives

Once upon a time Americans hopped into their cars on warm spring days and took long drives to admire the beauty of nature. Teenagers took joy rides around town to meet friends and rode from one “hot spot” to another. Those were the days when gas prices were affordable to the average American. Over the past few years, gas prices in the United States have been on the rise. What is causing the increase in gas prices?

The price of gas has gone up for the 30th day in a row, and with it tempers are rising. Increased demand for public transportation is expected to continue into the spring [1]. The impact of high oil

If the government decides to continue with the drilling of new sites or expand the Keystone XL Pipeline there are environmental dangers and concerns to follow and still not enough oil production to fuel the countries demand. The importing of oil from foreign countries would still be a necessity. For now the prices of gasoline are still on the rise and with use of the oil money future tool prices are sure to continue rising. As it seems in this current economic crisis, consumers need to make their voice heard with the government and hope something will change with the way oil is produced and imported to lower the cost for everyone.

In 1859, the first oil well was dug, however, the gasoline had no use until the invention of the automobile (EIA, 2014). Nowadays, gasoline is classified as a refinery product and is produced as three types: Unleaded Regular, Premium and Super-Premium (Gary, J. et al, 2007). The first one is most common between automobiles, it is a byproduct of crude oil with an 87 octane rating and a highly flammable material. It is also environmentally-friendly and has less hazardous to health due to no lead compounds. Premium Gasoline is less polluted due to its detergent additives that make engines cleaner. It shares similar characteristics

Several oil-countries have been facing economic and political turbulence as a result of the crash in oil prices, and there is disagreement among OPEC as how to handle the situation. (Krauss) While this is happening, America’s oil production continues to rise, as it inches closer to becoming an energy superpower in production and consumption; and countries that depend on their oil exports face recession.

The demand of gasoline has increased steadily over the last twenty years. In 1981 the U.S. averaged 6.5 million barrels of gasoline consumption per day. By comparison, in 2004 the U.S. averaged 9.2 million barrels of gasoline consumption per day. For most of this time period, gas prices stayed relatively the same. This is because the U.S. refineries increased their production to meet the demand and maintain the equilibrium price. Also during this same time period worldwide demand for crude oil increased 27%. Crude oil producers also increased their production to meet the demand keeping prices the same.

Over the past two years, oil prices have increased very rapidly. “With OPEC production cuts and a growth in crude oil demand,” oil prices went from a 25-year low of $11 per barrel in February 1999 to a peak of close to $36 per barrel in December 2003 (Jablon 1). “Some analyst, however, said the cut could soon push crude prices above the psychologically important threshold of $40 per barrel and worsen the pain for U.S. motorists” (“Rising Prices Fuel Gas Clash” 1). During this winter, the price of natural gas has gone through the roof. This brings many questions to mind. Are the companies just raising prices? Is there actually a shortage that is causing the raise in price?

Drivers realize that the price of gas is tied to the market value of crude oil, and has a direct impact to their daily commutes, errands, and vacations. However the reality is that the price of fuel has implications much grater than most consumers realize. Fuel prices affect nearly everything we purchase. For example, the price of farm commodities and food increase because farmers pay more for the fuel for their farm equipment and trucking firms pay more for fuel to get the commodities to market. These shipping “fuel surcharges” impact all goods

According to Domm (2013), the author of the first article, apart from the unrest in Egypt, several other factors such as a plunge in the inventories of domestic crude oil could drive up demand and in the end trigger an increase in the price of gas. In the opinion of the author, although the problems facing Egypt (and Libya) have affected supply

The US consumed 142 billion gallons of gasoline in 2007 and the tax applied on it is 18. 4 cents on one gallon. All around the US, there are around 162,000 retail gasoline outlets. With the price of crude oil hovering around $100 a barrel, it is no wonder that concern is growing about the gas prices being so high. After all, modern economies are kept moving by this lifeblood. For instance, in the United States alone personal vehicles consume more than 140 billion gallons of diesel fuel and gasoline per year.However, there are several factors that contribute to the gas prices being so high. Given below are a few of them. Increasing Demand for Oil One of the main catalysts for the incessant rise in gas prices has been one of the most

What are the industrial uses for diesel? Diesel is used commonly as the fuel for motor vehicles like cars, SUVs, trucks, and buses. It is also a source of fuel in other industries besides transportation, like the construction industry and the use of diesel in power equipment such as forklifts and excavators, and it is used in the agriculture industry powering the tractors and other farming equipment, along with other industries. How good is diesel fuel for you or the environment? Are there concerns in using diesel? Diesel fuel was thought to be around since the mid 1800s but it wasn’t until the late 1800s when the diesel engine was invented. This invention was a very important one in terms of industry because it started the shift from coal to diesel powered engines. However, the shift to use more fuels like diesel has lead to a concern for how close are we to exhausting precious non-renewable energy sources. How much pollution is being released into the atmosphere? Is there an alternative renewable energy source? With the fear of global warming, all fuel sources, including diesel, are beginning to be replaced, or reinvented, with cleaner and safer alternatives. An example of these alternatives is biodiesel. Biodiesel is an alternative to diesel that can be produced from plant products, such as cornstarch and oils produced from soybean and other oil producing crops (Pittman, 2011). One obstacle that is present with biodiesel produced from plant products is the potential loss