ARLINGTON, Va., June 23, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- American Trucking Associations applauded the Obama administration and the International Energy Agency for releasing a total of 60 million barrels of oil to offset supply disruptions and calm rising prices, including 30 million barrels from the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve.
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"ATA appreciates the step the Obama administration and IEA have taken to relieve high oil prices," ATA President and CEO Bill Graves said in a statement. "High fuel costs hurt trucking companies by increasing operational costs and by reducing freight volumes."
However, Graves added the administration's response to high fuel prices cannot be limited to the short term solution of tapping emergency reserves.
"The trucking industry alone consumes roughly 97.7 million gallons of diesel fuel each day," Graves said. "The 30 million barrels the Obama administration will release into the market is enough crude oil to supply our nation for just a couple of days.
"The administration must act quickly and decisively to implement a longer term solution by expanding access to domestic supplies of oil by expanding offshore production," Graves said.
The American Trucking Associations (www.truckline.com) is the largest national trade association for the trucking industry. Through a federation of other trucking groups, industry-related conferences, and its 50 affiliated state trucking associations, ATA represents more than 37,000 members covering every type of motor carrier in the United States. Follow ATA on Twitter @TruckingMatters (www.twitter.com/truckingmatters), or become a fan on Facebook (http://tinyurl.com/y4qwp6h).
SOURCE American Trucking Associations
