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Diesel Price Freezes at $2.966 a Gallon

The U.S. average retail price of diesel froze during the week of Feb. 11, remaining at $2.966 a gallon.

The price for trucking’s main fuel is 9.7 cents a gallon cheaper than it was a year ago, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

Diesel prices had been falling steadily since reaching a peak of $3.395 a gallon during the week of Oct. 15. Since then, there has been only one price increase of 0.1 cent, to $2.966 per gallon, which occurred the week ending Feb. 4.

The average cost of diesel decreased in all regions except the Midwest, where the price rose 1 cent, to $2.849 per gallon, and the West Coast, where the price remained at $3.435 per gallon.

Concerns that the global economy will slow down if the United States and China do not work out a trade agreement have contributed to keeping the price of oil relatively low.

The national average price of gasoline climbed 2.2 cents from $2.254 to $2.276.

On the trading floors, oil rebounded from a two-week low on Feb. 12 as Saudi Arabia pledged to deepen production cuts and President Donald Trump said he could extend a deadline for new tariffs on China, according to Bloomberg News.

West Texas Intermediate crude for March delivery rose 69 cents to $53.10 a barrel at the official closing of the New York Mercantile Exchange on Feb. 12.

US Refiners Cut Off From Venezuelan Crude After Sanctions

U.S. oil refiners won’t be allowed to complete shipments of Venezuelan crude they booked before the Trump administration slapped new sanctions on the Latin American nation.

U.S. Treasury Department officials have informed some companies that previously contracted cargoes won’t be exempt from a new rule blocking payments to Venezuela’s PDVSA, according to two people familiar with the matter. The requirement forces purchasers of Venezuelan crude to deposit payment into an account state-owned Petroleos de Venezuela SA can’t touch.

The clarification puts refiners in a difficult position, as PDVSA is now demanding up-front payment before releasing any tankers bound for the United States. But under the Trump administration’s Jan. 28 sanctions, U.S. companies are barred from doing business with PDVSA.

Two vessels contracted for Valero Energy Corp. and one belonging to Chevron Corp. are anchored in Venezuela, awaiting payment. A fourth tanker booked by Chevron may be rerouted without getting the oil it came for, according to tanker tracking data compiled by Bloomberg.

Industry Groups Object to New Chassis Fees Taking Effect at Ports

Transportation industry groups are criticizing a plan by some ocean carriers to begin seeking new administrative fees for cargo containers, known as “street turns.”

The fees are set to take effect Feb. 4 and range from $30 to $75, depending on the carrier.

Historically, truck drivers have picked up fully loaded containers at ports and delivered the contents to a warehouse or intermodal facility without being charged a fee. The cost of using the ocean carrier’s container has been built into the shipping contract. Oftentimes, drivers would either fill the container with goods from that facility or another one and return to the port with a load to be exported. This is called a street turn. Under the new fee structure, ocean carriers will begin charging drivers the fee if they come back into the port with a loaded container.

Diesel Rises a Whisker to $2.966 a Gallon

The U.S. average retail price of diesel increased ever so slightly the week of Feb. 4, rising to $2.966 a gallon, one-tenth of a cent higher than last week.

It was the first price increase in diesel since mid-October, but diesel today is 12 cents a gallon cheaper than it was a year ago, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration’s weekly update.

Diesel prices had been falling steadily since reaching a peak of $3.395 a gallon during the week of Oct. 15. The price dropped 14 straight weeks and then remained flat at $2.965 per gallon last week. Strong world supplies of crude oil, mixed with concerns that the global economy would slow down, have helped reduce oil and diesel prices.

DHL Express Launches New Fleet of Electric Delivery Vans in San Francisco

DHL Express is rolling out a new fleet of 63 electric delivery vans in the United States as part of the German company’s goal to reduce logistics-related emissions to zero by 2050.

Thirty battery-powered NGEN-1000 vehicles from Workhorse Group will be deployed in San Francisco with the remainder in other unspecified markets around the country later this year.

The new vehicles have a range of 100 miles and 1,008 cubic feet of cargo capacity.

NFI/Cal Cartage to Close Port of LA Facility After Union Battle, Controversies

NFI Industries announced plans to close its 600,000-square-foot warehouse at the Port of Los Angeles in the wake of a decision by the Los Angeles City Council not to extend the lease on the 85-acre facility.

The Cherry Hill, N.J.-based third-party logistics provider said in a Jan. 16 press release that the facility, which handles goods for retailers that include Amazon.com, Lowe’s, Sears/Kmart and TJ Maxx, will be shut down in July. The closure will lead to the elimination of 800 jobs.

The Los Angeles City Council last October voted against extending the lease for the facility, which is operated by NFI subsidiary California Cartage. Cal Cartage has been at the location for more than 50 years; NFI acquired the company in 2017.

Evergreen adds mega-ships to its fleet

Taiwanese container ship operator Evergreen has added its second and third ultra-large container ships to its fleet with the delivery of the Ever Gifted and Ever Grade from the Japanese shipyard at Imabari.

The two sister ships will join the Ever Golden in the China-Europe-Mediterranean (CEM) trades operated by the Ocean Alliance. All three vessels have a nominal capacity of 20,150 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU). The 400-meter-long ships have power-points for 1,300 reefer containers and will offer significant economies of scale to the line.

The ships will operate as part of the CEM service out of North China, via Shanghai, Colombo and the Suez Canal to the Mediterranean, Felixstowe, Rotterdam and Hamburg.

Colorado Joining California in Mandating Electric-Vehicle Sales

Colorado moved to boost electric-car sales by taking the first step toward adopting a zero-emission-vehicle mandate patterned after one in California that’s under threat from the Trump administration.

Democratic Gov. Jared Polis signed an executive order directing Colorado environmental officials to propose the zero-emission-vehicle rule by no later than May 2019 to the state’s Air Quality Control Commission.

The mandate would make Colorado the 10th state to join California’s electric-car posse that’s enacted rules requiring automakers to sell more electric cars each year. California regulators estimate the program will lead to pure-electric and plug-in hybrid cars accounting for 8% of auto sales in the state by 2025.

“As we continue to move towards a cleaner electric grid, the public health and environmental benefits of widespread transportation electrification will only increase,” Polis said in a statement.

The nine other predominantly Democratic-leaning states include New York, Massachusetts and Oregon. They have established similar electric-car requirements by using a provision of the U.S. Clean Air Act that allows states to adopt rules California developed, which Polis’ executive order cited. The act gives California the authority to set rules more stringent than federal standards.

Diesel Falls for 14th Consecutive Week

The U.S. average retail price of diesel dropped 1.1 cents to $2.965 a gallon for the week of Jan. 21, despite an increase in crude oil prices to $53 per barrel, or $3 higher than a week before.

The drop in diesel marked the 14th consecutive weekly decline in the cost of trucking’s main fuel. The price has fallen 42.9 cents during that period.

Diesel costs 6 cents a gallon more than it did a year ago, when the price was $2.905. The U.S. Energy Information Administration reported the prices Jan. 22 due to the national holiday the day before that celebrated Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday.

Average diesel prices fell in all regions of the country except the Gulf Coast, where the average price rose 0.2 cent a gallon to $2.790.

The California region saw prices fall just 0.3 cent a gallon to $3.739.

The average price of gasoline rose 0.4 cent to $2.251.

Regional prices were mixed, rising in four areas and declining in five.

US Factories Brace for Sting of 2019 Trade War

America’s manufacturers are scrambling to change the way they do business — from finding new suppliers to shifting more finishing work overseas — as the sting of tariffs begins to take a bigger toll on their bottom lines.

A range of recent reports have underscored fault lines in what had been a growing part of the economy. They all point to waning optimism because of a tight labor market, uncertainty over the stock market, rising interest rates — and especially trade issues.

Ben Bidwell, director of U.S. customs at C.H. Robinson, said clients have been swarming to the Eden Prairie, Minn.-based logistics giant for help. They are hiring trade attorneys, renegotiating with custom brokers and hiring consultants in record numbers to mitigate the damage of trade tariffs.

“Collectively, our customs and trade policy group have never been busier than they are today,” Bidwell said. “They are inundated with calls from clients (seeking help) with tariff classification processes and looking at things like alternative importing sources, foreign trade zone options and import duty drawbacks. All those things are happening at such large numbers — and, yes, this is certainly costing importers money.”