AAA Daily Fuel Gauge Report for Friday, 1/26/24

National Average Price for Regular Unleaded Current: $3.110; Month Ago: $3.043; Year Ago: $3.141. National Average Price for Diesel Current: $3.663; Month Ago: $3.506; Year Ago: $3.935.

American Trucking Associations’ advanced seasonally adjusted (SA) For-Hire Truck Tonnage Index increased 7.4% in December after rising 3.2% in November. In December, the index equaled 120 (2015=100) compared with 111.7 in November. “Tonnage ended last year on a high note,” said ATA Chief Economist Bob Costello. “The index not only registered the largest monthly gain since June, but it also had the first year-over-year increase since March. Freight continues to be helped by strong consumption, a retail inventory restocking, and robust single-family home construction. With the stimulus checks recently issued and with a strong possibility of more in the near future, I would expect truck freight to continue rising.” November’s gain was revised down slightly to 3.2% from our December 22 press release. Compared with December 2019, the SA index rose 2.3%. For all of 2020, compared with the same 12-month period in 2019, tonnage was down 3.3%. 2019 had an annual increase of 3.3%.

“There’s been some constructive developments coming out of OPEC,” Tamar Essner, an energy analyst at Nasdaq Inc. in New York, said by telephone. “The data out of OPEC has been bearish.” Oil has rebounded on growing signs that the market is coming back into balance, with futures climbing above the 200-day moving average last week for the first time since May. Members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries such as Saudi Arabia and Kuwait promised to reduce crude exports. U.S. crude stockpiles have been on a steady decline and are estimated to have dropped further last week. Click Read More below for more of the story.