Diesel Prices Plateau While Oil Markets Evaluate Brexit

Source: EIA

The price of diesel fuel remained relatively unchanged for the third straight week and the energy markets are still feeling the effects from the United Kingdom's vote to leave the European Union, according to the latest numbers from the Energy Department.

The average price of on-highway diesel fuel dropped by 0.3 cents last week, settling at $2.423 per gallon. The price is 40.9 cents than it was in the same week a year ago.

There are usually significant differences in fuel price fluctuations region to region but prices were slightly down in nearly all areas. The largest decrease in prices was in the New England region at 0.9 cents per gallon while the largest increase in prices was 0.7 cents in the Rocky Mountain region.

The average national price of regular gasoline was down last week by 3.8 cents, hitting $2.291 per gallon. The current average price is 50.2 cents cheaper than it was in the same a week in 2015.

When separated by region, the largest decrease in prices was in the Midwest with an 8.3-cent drop for the week. The smallest change in prices were on the West Coast where prices fell 0.5 cents.

The price of crude oil was down on July 5 as energy prices have felt the effects of the UK's vote to leave the EU, according to a CNBC report. The worry is that the, economic downturn in the UK would slow the global economy, reducing demand for oil.

While oil prices had been steadily rising for the past few months on news that oil producers would be reducing the supply of oil, a slower economy could prevent the prices from continuing to increase.

Related: Business Investment Sinks as Durable Orders Decline

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Omnitracs Adds Trailer & Cargo Tracking Solution

Omnitracs has announced a new solution that allows fleet managers to track trailers and cargo called Omnitracs Trailer Tracks 150.

The company said that Trailer Tracks 150 gives fleets the ability to manage trailer inventory, keep cargo safe and track drivers on the road. It helps keep track of trailers stored in set locations and allows for customizable alerts to signal if a trailer has been dropped off at an unauthorized site.

The new solution integrates into existing dispatch software and Omnitracs' other fleet management applications.

Omnitracs TT150 provides fleets with some key features and benefits:

• Increased driver and tractor productivity and security with real-time monitoring of status and location of trailers and containers
• Reduction of fuel, as fleet managers do not need to search for trailers
• Better operations/planning and enhanced customer service through automated and customized reports
• Increase asset usage, trailer pool inventory, as well as address unauthorized use of trailers for storage purposes through access to real-time data
• Simplified installation process through mobile-friendly, peel-and-stick installation

“Fleet owners continue to struggle with a lack of real-time data related to their fleet, which results in the need to search for trailers, increasing their costs associated with driver time and fuel, as well as leaving them vulnerable to theft and misuse of trailers,” said Jeff Champa, Omnitracs vice president of product management.

“The new TT150 improves visibility into both trailer location and status, eliminates the loss of trailers and cargo, increases utilization, and puts an end to wasted driver time and fuel searching for empty, usable trailers— all for a low price," he added.

Related: Omnitracs for Volvo Trucks Adds Productivity and Safety Features

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Oil Eater Offers Full Spill Kit

Oil Eater's professional grade emergency spill kit provides all-in-one solutions for containment and clean up of hazardous spills in vehicle servicing facilities and other areas.

Each kit includes a supply of absorbent pads, pillows, universal snakes, booms, protective gloves, oil-resistant, high-temperature disposal bags and an emergency response instruction guide.

A 5-gallon bucket of Oil Eater Original cleaner is included in each kit to clean surfaces after the spill has been absorbed. Oil Eater cleaner-degreaser is water-based, non-toxic, non-corrosive, non-flammable and biodegradable.

Kits are available in 65-gallon and 95-gallon overpacks which can handle the corresponding volume of liquid.

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Fleets Online: Custom integration

Company: AAA Cooper Transportation, Dothan, AL

Operation: An asset-based transportation solutions provider offering LTL, TL, dedicated, brokerage, and fleet maintenance services throughout North America with 2,400 tractors and 6,000 trailers

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NHTSA: Traffic Deaths Up 7.7%

Image: Minnesota DOT; photo by Julie Bottolfson

Preliminary data released by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration on July 1 shows a 7.7 percent rise in motor-vehicle traffic deaths last year.

NHTSA said an estimated 35,200 persons died in 2015, up from the 32,675 reported fatalities in 2014.

The agency said that if these projections hold, fatalities will be at their highest level since 2008, when 37,423 fatalities were reported.

Noting that preliminary data reported by the Federal Highway Administration shows that vehicle miles traveled (VMT) in 2015 increased by about 107.2 billion miles, or by about 3.5%, NHTSA said the fatality rate for 2015 increased to 1.12 fatalities per 100 million VMT. That's up from 1.08 fatalities per 100 million VMT in 2014.

“The fourth quarter of 2015 represents the fifth consecutive quarter with year-to-year increases in fatalities as well as the fatality rate,” said NHTSA. “The magnitude of the increases has also been rising up to the 11-percent increase in the third quarter of 2015. Fatalities are projected to have increased by 4.7 percent during the fourth quarter of 2015.”

While emphasizing that the data is preliminary and requires additional analysis, the agency said that early estimates based on the data coded thus far into its Fatality Analysis Reporting System for 2015 indicates most of the country incurred “significant increases” in motorcyclist (9%), pedestrian (10%) and pedal-cyclist fatalities (13% increase).

In addition, fatalities to drivers and passengers also went up (6% and 7%, respectively). Fatalities in crashes involving young drivers (15 to 20 years old) increased as well (10%) as did fatalities in crashes involving large trucks (4%).

NHTSA said it is continuing to gather data on crash fatalities for 2014 and 2015 using information from police crash reports and other sources.

“It is too soon to speculate on the contributing factors or potential implications of any changes in deaths on our roadways,” the agency stated. “The final data for 2014 as well as the annual file for 2015 will be available later in 2016, which usually results in the revision of fatality totals and the ensuing rates and percentage changes.”

In response to early estimates showing fatality increases, NHTSA said it convened a series of six regional safety summits with key stakeholders back in February and March.

As a result of those summits, the agency said it is “working to develop new tools that could improve behavioral challenges including drunk, drugged, distracted and drowsy driving; speeding; failure to use safety features such as seat belts and child seats; and new initiatives to protect vulnerable road users such as pedestrians and cyclists.”

In addition, when the final dataset is released later this summer, the Department of Transportation said it will issue a “call to action to safety partners, state and local elected officials, technologists, data scientists and policy experts to join the Department in searching for more definitive answers and developing creative, open data-driven solutions to improve safety and reduce deaths caused by motor vehicles.”

DOT also said it is “pressing forward” with new guidance to promote the development of automated safety technologies, aimed to greatly decreasing the number of crashes. That guidance is expected to be issued later this summer.

NHTSA and FHWA are also working on implementing new safety-performance measures, which require States and metropolitan areas to set targets for reducing deaths among motorized and non-motorized road users.

“As the economy has improved and gas prices have fallen, more Americans are driving more miles,” said NHTSA Administrator Dr. Mark Rosekind. “But that only explains part of the increase. Ninety-four percent of crashes can be tied back to a human choice or error, so we know we need to focus our efforts on improving human behavior while promoting vehicle technology that not only protects people in crashes, but helps prevent crashes in the first place.”

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Ports and partnerships

When thinking of ports, many visualize smog, giant cargo ships, and dirty trucks. In reality, ports have become testing grounds for many clean and advanced technologies that now can be found throughout the transportation and freight industries. From low emission electric trucks to ships that plug in, ports throughout the world, especially in Southern California, have been instrumental in testing and demonstrating technologies to ready them for commercial maturity.

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Green Fleet of the Month: Experienced hand

The choice any fleet makes to go green involves many variables. There are fuel and environmental benefits, plus the positive public profile it projects. Regardless of the reason, though, going green requires the support of management, and having an in-house expert can be a benefit, too.

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