AAA Daily Fuel Gauge Report for Friday, 1/14/22

Six companies bought 14 million barrels of oil from the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve in a sale required by law to help fund medical research and the federal government, said the Department of Energy on Thursday. BP Oil Supply, Exxon Mobil Corp, Phillips 66, Shell Trading, Valero Marketing and Supply Company, and Macquarie Commodities Trading bought oil from the reserve, which is held in salt caverns on the Texas and Louisiana coasts. The companies bought the oil at a range from $46.98 to $47.91 a barrel, slightly below the current futures price of about $49.70 per barrel, depending on which location the crude came from and whether it was sent by pipeline or directly to vessels, which could export the petroleum.

American Trucking Associations’ advanced seasonally adjusted (SA) For-Hire Truck Tonnage Index rose 2.1% in June after increasing 1.2% in May. In June, the index equaled 116.5 (2015=100) compared with 114.1 in May. “While the tonnage index increased in both May and June, it remains in recession territory,” said ATA Chief Economist Bob Costello. “The index continues to fall from a year earlier and is off 1.9% from its recent peak in September 2022. A multitude of factors have caused a recession in freight, including stagnant consumer spending on goods, lower home construction, falling factory output, and shippers consolidating freight into fewer shipments compared with the frenzy during the goods buying spree at the height of the pandemic. However, the magnitude of the year-over-year declines is improving, perhaps pointing to a bottom in the freight market.” Compared with June 2022, the SA index decreased 0.8%, which was the fourth straight year-over-year decrease. In May, the index was down 2.4% from a year earlier.

With increasing demand in the printing industry for equipment that enables more frequent and faster job changes on press, Flint Group officially launches the new rotec® ULW Bridge to join the lightweight family of sleeves and adapters. The rotec® ULW Bridge is an ultra lightweight polyurethane adapter offering up to 65% reduction in weight compared to similar products in the market – a significant weight decrease improving safety and handling for press operators. Developed together with customers, this new generation adapter has been validated in applications on plate-mounting equipment and on presses running up to 450 m/min for the last 1-2 years. Ralf Venema, Flint Group General Manager explains: “Our Product Development Team is focused on developing products to help the customer work smarter, faster and easier. The rotec® ULW Bridge is an excellent solution for improved safety and easier handling at the printer.” The rotec® ULW Bridge is suitable for all press widths and offers particular benefits where higher wall thicknesses are most commonly used, such as in cantilevered mounter applications and unusually large print applications, including corrugated pre-print. Click Read More below for additional information.