Key Currency Exchange Rates for Friday, 4/7/23

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey is "coordinating with partners across the supply chain to prepare for any impacts" from a possible work stoppage by workers represented by the International Longshoremen's Association as they negotiate with the United States Maritime Alliance (USMX), a Port Authority spokesperson told CBS MoneyWatch on Friday. "We urge both sides to find common ground and keep the cargo flowing for the good of the national economy," added the spokesperson, noting that $240 billion in goods move through the two ports each year and that such trade supports more than 600,000 local jobs. According to the union, a strike would affect ports from Maine to Texas. A stoppage could involve up to 45,000 workers at ports that account for roughly 60% of U.S. shipping traffic, leading to a major disruption of shipments, Oxford Economics said in a report.

National Average Price for Regular Unleaded Current: $3.086; Month Ago: $3.036; Year Ago: $2.171. National Average Price for Diesel Current: $3.229; Month Ago: $3.177; Year Ago: $2.439.

American Trucking Associations’ advanced seasonally adjusted (SA) For-Hire Truck Tonnage Index increased 1.1% in October after declining 1.1% in September. In October, the index equaled 115.2 (2015=100) compared with 113.9 in September. Compared with October 2022, the SA index fell 2.1%, which was the eighth straight year-over-year decrease. In September, the index was down 4.1% from a year earlier. The not seasonally adjusted index, which represents the change in tonnage actually hauled by the fleets before any seasonal adjustment, equaled 119.7 in October, 6.3% above the September level (112.5). In calculating the index, 100 represents 2015. ATA’s For-Hire Truck Tonnage Index is dominated by contract freight as opposed to spot market freight.