WASHINGTON, D.C. — The American Trucking Associations (ATA) made an appeal to Congress last week to implement a number of measures aimed at ensuring an affordable fuel supply for the trucking industry and US consumers.

“The fuel crisis we face today is severe,” Lynch told Congress. “There is no one single solution to high oil prices. We need to conserve fuel and increase oil production to emerge from this crisis. But neither of these in itself is a total solution. Congress must embrace a multifaceted approach to solving this problem.”

One of the ATA’s suggestions is for the US government to more closely monitor “excessive speculation” which the group says is “contributing to the rapid increase in the price of oil.”

The association’s other suggestions include: establishing a national diesel fuel standard; allowing for the environmentally-responsible exploration of oil-rich areas in the US; allowing oil companies to tap into the vast resources of crude resources in oil shale and tar sands in Colorado, Wyoming and Utah; continuing to fund the EPA SmartWay program; limiting truck speeds to 68 mph through speed limiter legislation; setting a national speed limit of 65 mph; requiring states to grant a weight exemption for APUs; and suspending collection of the 12% federal excise tax on fuel purchased by carriers to operate APUs.