You're talking diesel? Or this"http://www.doubletongued.org/index.php/citations/sailboat_fuel_1/"?
In 20 years... I predict there will be no regionals... I think if there are airlines there will only be majors, and then we will all be pissed that we had to start with the crappy jobs we have now to get to a major... That or the regionals will all be flying turbo props, and the general public that thinks they are old and deadly will have to shove it or drive. Continental (new United) is already starting to invest more money into turboprobs for Colgan and CommutAir. With the speeds the Q400 can put out you can do the 700 mile leg from EWR to BNA in a little over 25 minutes more than the EMB145 will do it, burn a little more than half the gas, and carry 20 more people while doing it... Its common sense...
If it makes you feel better, the heavy side of the freight industry is balls to the wall. We don't have enough lift, as opposed the first quarter of '08 when we carried about a billion gallons of sailboat fuel.
Which is exactly why we need some kind of regulation of whats going on with fuel prices. The world economy is based on transportation. If fuel prices hit the roof, what is it going to do to the world economy, again.
Most still are. Usually the small ones get hit first. Not sure how long it will keep up at these levels.
Our company has a pretty solid record of prognostication over the last few years. You might see a slight flattening of demand, but last year freight volumes were above a historic peak in 2007.
I think the 135 small freight industry has had some fundamental shifts due to the huge reduction of their traditional markets (checks and car parts) and is still reconfiguring from that.
There is a very good presentation on my company's home page about what's getting moved and the scenario of the value of that transportation of goods at various oil prices.
Of course a fundamental collapse like in 2008 can change things, but as has been pointed out, we were hauling nothing for a good 6 months prior to that. Our loads are still great, and even better, is that we are hauling more out of the US than we were during our "economic boom" of the early 2000s.
Regulation is not going to fix inflation. Most commodities are priced in dollars. The government has been printing money like it was toilet paper. Thus, the dollar has been tanking which means oil, coal, gold, food, etc cost more since... as mentioned... they are priced in dollars throughout the world. It was true in the Roman Empire, it's true today. The major reason unrest started in the first place in the Middle East was a rise in the price of food.
If it makes you feel better, the heavy side of the freight industry is balls to the wall. We don't have enough lift, as opposed the first quarter of '08 when we carried about a billion gallons of sailboat fuel.
Which is exactly why we need some kind of regulation of whats going on with fuel prices. The world economy is based on transportation. If fuel prices hit the roof, what is it going to do to the world economy, again.
Well I better put my .02 cents in on oil. I personally think oil prices are going to haunt us until either: a) huge reserves are found somewhere that are currently not known about or b) we find some sort of alternate fuel. One of the biggest problems that isn't talked about much all stems back to past and current budgets that our govenment sets for each fiscal year. This current proposed budget for the next fiscal year expects revenues from taxes to be at 2.7 trillion (don't remember exact numbers) compared to nearly 4 trillion in expenditures. This means we have to print more and more money because we are spending more than we bring in. The Fed right now is printing money like its going out of style. Why does this matter? It devalues the dollar, plain and simple. This is one of the main problems with the high prices. The Fed is playing a dangerous game right now by devaluing our currency and other things they have done. Obviously there are many factors like speculation, tension in Libyia and so on causing the high prices, but until we get our spending in check as a nation we are in trouble not just with oil prices.
Why get into the alternative oil conversation when we can talk about using less oil?