AAA Daily Fuel Gauge Report for Friday, 11/1/24

American Dollar to Canadian Dollar = 0.742099; American Dollar to Chinese Yuan = 0.147411; American Dollar to Euro = 1.081910; American Dollar to Japanese Yen = 0.007672; American Dollar to Mexican Peso = 0.052780.

Trucking activity in the United States slipped again in April as the freight market remained choppy early in the second quarter. Specifically, truck freight tonnage decreased 0.3% after contracting 1.5% in March, according to the American Trucking Associations’ advanced seasonally adjusted For-Hire Truck Tonnage Index. “After surging 2.8% in February, and hitting the highest level since late May 2024, tonnage fell a combined 1.8% in March and April,” said ATA Chief Economist Bob Costello. “Unfortunately, a recovery that was expected this year hasn’t transpired as the industry deals with a freight market in flux from tariffs and softening economic indicators.” In April, the ATA advanced seasonally adjusted For-Hire Truck Tonnage Index equaled 113.0, down from 113.3 in March. The index, which is based on 2015 as 100, was up 0.1% from the same month last year, the fourth straight year-over-year increase, albeit the smallest increase over this period.

California rang in the new year by delaying enforcement of its "Advanced Clean Fleets" Regulation, which requires trucking companies operating in the state to purchase an increasing percentage of electric trucks in the coming years. While enforcement was slated to begin this week, officials at the California Air Resources Board agreed to pause the registration and compliance requirements until the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency grants the regulation a green light to proceed. It's an inauspicious start for a program that's on a clear collision course with reality. Reporting from the Wall Street Journal validates what ATA has been telling lawmakers for many months: the charging infrastructure, power generation and transmission, product performance, and operational parity required for such a policy to succeed are nowhere near ready. The WSJ report illustrates how even drayage operators—those who run short-haul routes to and from ports and other intermodal facilities—are struggling to charge their equipment and maintain deliveries on time.