While the price for WTI crude oil is expected to average near $100 per barrel through the rest of this year, transport companies and everybody else getting their supply through their services are bracing for the effects of higher fuel prices during the summer season, defined as the period from April 1st to September 30th.

Pricewise, let’s start with the regular grade gasoline retail prices, which averaged $2.93 per gallon last summer (of 2007) and are projected to average $3.54 per gallon during the current driving season.

The trucking business is going to be hit even harder as diesel fuel prices, which averaged $2.85 per gallon last summer, are projected to average $3.73 this summer.

In fact, the monthly average gasoline price at the pump is projected to peak at just over $3.60 per gallon in June while the monthly average diesel price is expected to peak at just over $3.90 per gallon in April.

These rather scary retail price projections reflect higher prices for the refiners’ average acquisition cost of crude oil, projected to average close to $97 per barrel, up from about $67 per barrel last summer which account for a hefty $30 price hike, per barrel. Furthermore, strong world distillate demand growth, especially in Europe and Asia, will do nothing to help the situation domestically, in America.

It is important to note, however, that even if the US national average monthly gasoline price comes to peak around $3.60 per gallon this summer, it’s entirely possible that prices, at some point, will cross the $4 per gallon threshold, severely hurting the transport industry and those who depend on it.

Countless consumers may be forced to reconsider driving their cars at all and the same kind of dilemma may happen for transport operators of all sizes as well as petroleum-based product manufacturers.

Transportation and logistics companies, especially in America, need to plan (and provision lots of “emergency money”) right now for this summer’s potential fuel price explosion.

Tags: gas, fuel, wti crude oil, oil, diesel, petroleum, pump, america, usa, transport, logistics, summer

Consequently, these locomotives emit toxic diesel exhaust which contains particles and gases that float in the air until they’re drawn into the lungs of anyone unfortunate enough to breath them in — namely those who work, on a daily basis, around trains.

No less than forty (40) sustances found in diesel exhaust are listed as hazardous material by the EPA. Yikes! Keep in mind that the microscopic particles in diesel exhaust are less than one-fifth the thickness of a human hair so they’re small enough to penetrate deep into the lungs where, predictably, they contribute to a range of health problems.

No less than forty (40) sustances found in diesel exhaust are listed as hazardous material by the EPA. Yikes! Keep in mind that the microscopic particles in diesel exhaust are less than one-fifth the thickness of a human hair so they’re small enough to penetrate deep into the lungs where, predictably, they contribute to a range of health problems. Workers in places with extremely bad conditions such as poisonous emitting gas should get life insurance along with their contracts.

The rail workers are the first to suffer from diesel exhaust since the health problems multiply and become more serious the longer it is inhaled. Longer-term exposure can lead to health problems like asthma, chronic bronchitis, heart attacks, permanent nervous-system disorders as well as cancers of the lungs and the bladder.

Even if some rail workers have become accustomed to diesel fumes, they shouldn’t be taken lightly. In fact, the State of California found that long-term exposure to diesel exhaust poses “the highest cancer risk of any toxic air contaminant”.

That’s not all, The New York Times also reported that workers with long-term exposure to diesel exhaust suffered lung cancer rates up to fifty 95) times higher than other workers.

You won’t hear about those “details” from the rail carriers when they hold their career days but nevertheless, it’s something any current -and- potential worker should think about.

Tags: diesel exhaust, diesel fumes, fuel, health problems, locomotives, trains