"The trucking industry is experiencing the highest prolonged fuel prices in history," say officials from the American Trucking Associations (ATA). "For some motor carriers, fuel is beginning to surpass labor as their largest expense."
The ATA is urging the federal government to help reduce the price of diesel by:
* releasing oil from the United States' Strategic Petroleum Preserve.
* working with state officials to combat fuel price gouging.
* streamlining the Environmental Protection Agency's regulatory framework for processing applications for additional refinery operations.
* setting a national speed limit of 65 miles per hour.
The group is making other suggestions as well. "The signs are troubling," says ATA CEO and President Bill Graves. "We are concerned about fuel's direct impact on our industry and also its effects on the nation's economy."
