AAA Daily Fuel Gauge Report for Friday, 3/15/24

American Dollar to Canadian Dollar = 0.776257; American Dollar to Chinese Yuan = 0.151306; American Dollar to Euro = 1.189857; American Dollar to Japanese Yen = 0.008896; American Dollar to Mexican Peso = 0.053491.

Last week, the International Longshoremen’s Association provided a legally-required 60-day strike notice ahead of the expiration of the East Coast dockworkers’ contract at the end of September. More than 40,000 port workers are pressing for strike action against the United States Maritime Alliance (USMX) on October 1 if their demands are not met. A strike by East Coast dockworkers would have a colossal impact not only on the profits of the major maritime shipping companies, but, most significantly, on the entire global capitalist economy. The contract covers 36 ports on the Atlantic and Gulf Coasts of the United States, including the port of New York and New Jersey, the second biggest in the country. The Atlantic and Gulf ports handle over 100 million tons of cargo every year from Europe, South America and Asia.

American Trucking Associations’ advanced seasonally adjusted For-Hire Truck Tonnage Index declined 2% in March after increasing 4% in February. In March, the index equaled 113.4 (2015=100) compared with 115.7 in February. “Tonnage in March suggests that truck freight volumes remain lackluster, and it is clear the truck freight recession continued through the first quarter,” said ATA Chief Economist Bob Costello. “In the first three months of 2024, ATA’s tonnage index contracted 0.8% from the previous quarter and declined 2.4% from a year earlier, highlighting ongoing challenges the industry is navigating.” February’s increase was revised down slightly from our March 19 press release.