Quehubo, Don't know what effect it will have on demand but just completed a long drive up and down I-5 in Kalifornia and could not help but notice the trucks driving five and ten MPH below the speed limit. They were not alone as most private vehicles were holding the speed limit. Laying out fifty bucks to fill the gas tank is getting some attention.
As fuel climbs, an attitude shift in heavy truckers
By KEN BENSINGER LOS ANGELES TIMES
Published Wednesday, May 21, 2008 at 4:30 a.m.
Last updated Wednesday, May 21, 2008 at 12:18 p.m.
If you think gas is expensive, be thankful you are not a trucker. Filling up an 18-wheel, 80,000-pound leviathan can top $1,300 these days.
Because of short supply, the price of diesel has risen more than twice as much as gasoline in the past year, reaching an all-time national high of $4.33 a gallon last week.
The run-up has been prompting radical cultural and technological shifts in the struggling trucking industry.
Instead of obsessing over chrome trim or the latest cab amenities to ease life on the road, truck owners and operators fed up with getting 5 miles per gallon are delving into long-ignored subjects like aerodynamics, slower cruising speeds and more efficient tires.
Engineers and manufacturers are furiously developing new fuel-friendly technology. And commercial fleets are using high-tech software to calculate every aspect of their drivers' routes, down to where they should fill up and where they should stop for the night.
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