AAA Daily Fuel Gauge Report for Friday, 11/10/2017

National Average Price for Regular Unleaded Current: $3.189; Month Ago: $3.134; Year Ago: $2.182. National Average Price for Diesel Current: $3.294; Month Ago: $3.250; Year Ago: $2.428.

American Trucking Associations’ advanced seasonally adjusted (SA) For-Hire Truck Tonnage Index increased 1% in December after rising 0.5% in November. In December, the index equaled 114.7 (2015=100) compared with 113.5 in November. “December’s gain was the fifth straight totaling 4.4%,” said ATA Chief Economist Bob Costello. “In December, tonnage reached the highest level since March, but it was still 2.7% below the pre-pandemic high. This is likely due to the fact ATA’s data is dominated by contract freight. Contractor truckload carriers operated fewer trucks in 2021 compared with 2020 and it is difficult to haul significantly more tonnage with fewer trucks. But overall, we have seen a nice trend up that is reflective of a still growing goods-economy.” November’s reading was revised down from our December 21 press release.

Authorities say nobody has been hurt after a contractor accidentally cut an underground crude oil pipeline in Central Texas and caused about 50,000 gallons (189,265 liters) to spill. A spokesman with Magellan Midstream Partners of Tulsa, Oklahoma, says cleanup has begun at the rural site near Bastrop, about 30 miles (48 kilometers) east of Austin. Emergency responders ordered a 1-mile (1.6-kilometer) area evacuated around the spill location, as a precaution. Nearby Farm-to-Market 20 was closed in both directions. Click Read More below for more of the story.