Trucking firms worried about fuel costs, weak economy

Nov 05, 2008 | 07:55 AM | Corinna Petry

Diesel fuel costs and the economy are the top two critical issues for the trucking industry, according to an annual survey by the American Transportation Research Institute, Arlington, Va.

The survey report, "Critical Issues in the Trucking Industry," said that respondents view the current economic slowdown as threatening job growth, freight shipments and markets both domestic and international.

"As diesel fuel prices rose to unprecedented levels, an already fragile U.S. economy began to feel the impacts of inflationary pressures and declines in consumer optimism and manufacturing output," the report said. Although motor carriers in 2008 "aggressively sought to recoup fuel cost increases with surcharges, the industry simply could not keep pace with the unprecedented rise in diesel fuel costs, topping $4.70 a gallon in July 2008."....