AASHTO Journal, 17 April 2015
The national average retail price of gasoline edged downward half a cent in the week ending April 13, while diesel continued its fall with a 3-cent decline, the U.S. Energy Information Agency reported.
The EIA, which conducts a price snapshot survey of fueling stations at the start of each week, said gasoline averaged $2.408 a gallon as of April 13 and was down $1.243 from the same point a year ago. That latest pump price was also the lowest since Feb. 23, the EIA said.
Diesel continued its run at the lowest levels in more than five years, and since many trucking companies and other freight operators link their fuel surcharges to the EIA average the continued decline will keep curbing fuel surcharges on freight shipments throughout the supply chain.
The EIA said diesel was priced at an average $2.754 pump price April 13, the lowest since Dec. 28, 2009. That price is also down $1.198 from the same week in 2014.
Those declines come at a time when a number of states are raising user charges on motor fuels, as well as other fees, to generate more revenue for transportation infrastructure improvements. A few states have changed their fuel excise fees to allow mild drops in the per-gallon tax effect but prevent sharper revenue declines from percentage sales taxes on the underlying fuel price.
Some of those fuel fee changes have already taken effect and some are coming July 1, but the states’ actions have not prevented the overall average pump prices of motor fuel from continuing to weaken in line with the market for crude oil.
