Following a 6.8 cent gain to $3.891 per gallon last weeks, the average price per gallon of diesel held steady, remaining at $3.891, according to the Department of Energy’s Energy Information Administration (EIA).
Last week’s increase was the largest weekly gain since an 8.2 cent jump from the week of February 11, which saw prices escalate to $4.104 per gallon.
This snaps a three-week stretch of gains, which saw prices rise a cumulative 8.5 cents during that time.
Compared to the same week last year, the average price per gallon is down 15.1 cents.
Regardless of the fluctuation in diesel prices, shippers are cognizant of the impact diesel prices can have on their bottom line—for better or worse.
And they continue to be proactive on that front, too, by taking steps to reduce mileage and transit lengths when possible as well as cut down on empty miles. And even through shippers want to adjust budgets in order to offset the increased costs higher fuel prices bring, it is not always an easy thing to manage.
Shippers have told LM that adjusting budgets is only part of the solution when it comes to dealing—and living—with fuel price fluctuation.
When asked if they expect to pay higher fuel surcharges in the coming months, a recent Logistics Management reader study of roughly 420 shippers found that 39.1 percent said yes they did, 44.1 percent said they did not expect to have to pay higher fuel surcharges, with 16.8 percent stating they were unsure.
The average price per barrel of oil dropped down to $107.65 on the New York Mercantile Exchange as of press time. The price had been on the rise in recent days, due to tension in Syria regarding its use of chemical weapons and President Barack Obama’s call for military action against the government of Syrian President Bashar Assad in retaliation for what the White House says was a chemical weapons attack against civilians, according to the Associated Press.