Key Currency Exchange Rates for Friday, 08/18/17

Front-month crude futures rose 0.7 percent in New York, paring Thursday’s 2 percent decline. Gasoline gained as much as 4.6 percent. While some oil and gas production has shut in the Gulf, the storm is bearing down on an area in the U.S. state of Texas that is home to much of the nation’s refining capacity. If Harvey, currently a Category 2, makes the forecast landfall as a Category 3, it will be the strongest storm to hit since Wilma in 2005. U.S. gasoline prices for September rose to $1.7120 a gallon, the highest intraday price for a front-month contract since April. Ultra-low-sulfur diesel climbed as much as 2 percent to $1.6530 a gallon. Click Read More below for more of the story.

National Average Price for Regular Unleaded Current: $2.159; Month Ago: $2.117; Year Ago: $2.573. National Average Price for Diesel Current: $2.460; Month Ago: $2.371; Year Ago: $2.999.

Digital speed limitation for timber trucks works well on stretches with a lot of infrastructure, and haulage companies show great commitment to safer timber transports. This is demonstrated by the geofencing project that SCA has undertaken in collaboration with the Swedish Transport Administration. "We continue to utilize the technology on both existing routes and new ones," says Lars Nolander, logistics manager at SCA Skog. SCA's efforts to create safer timber transports have been ongoing for several years, and the latest initiative involves testing digital speed limitation, known as geofencing, on four selected routes in Västernorrland and Jämtland, where the road passes through villages or residential areas with houses and residents along the way. The technology involves creating zones using GPS points, where the vehicle senses when it's time to adjust the speed. Four haulage companies and nearly 40 timber trucks have been involved in the project.