ATA revises diesel fuel costs estimates.

The American Trucking Associations (ATA), based in Alexandria, Va., has revised the trucking industry's 2004 fuel costs and projected an increase in the amount expected to be spent on fuel in 2005.

Despite recent dips in diesel and gasoline prices, the ATA says in a press release that the trucking industry will have spent $87.7 billion on fuel in 2005. This marks a $2.7 billiohn increase from the previous estimate of $85 billion issued in September of 2005.

ATA also reports that motor carriers spent $65.9 billion on diesel fuel in 2004, $3.3 billion more than the $62.6 billion originally calculated.

The association says that it reconfigured the numbers after the government issued new data on fuel consumption.

ATA President and CEO Bill Graves says that despite recent fluctuations in energy prices, diesel costs remain the number one concern of motor carriers. For many motor carriers, fuel represents the second-highest operating expense, accounting for as much as 25 percent of total operating costs.

Higher fuel costs are affecting the trucking industry as it prepares to accept Ultra Low Sulfur Diesel (ULSD) fuel, scheduled to hit the market in mid-2006, and a new round of lower-emission diesel engines mandated by the Environmental Protection Agency in 2007. These market changes are expected to affect the trucking industry, driving operating costs still higher. ULSD could add between 5 cents and 13 cents to the cost of producing and distributing on-road diesel fuel, according to the ATA. New engines, meanwhile, are expected to cost more and to burn more fuel, the agency says.

The author, owner of Golden Metals Trading LLC, is a broker of nonferrous metals based in Littleton, Colo. He can be reached at [e-mail].