ARLINGTON, Va. --- The American Trucking Associations will host a fuel strategies workshop June 19 to help the trucking industry cope with skyrocketing fuel prices. The one-day seminar will be held at the Westin Arlington Gateway in Arlington, Va.

The workshop is designed to educate motor carriers about new technologies and operating practices that will help them conserve diesel fuel and implement cutting-edge diesel fuel purchasing strategies to reduce their fuel bill. Attendees will learn about ways to help conserve fuel, operate more efficiently and ultimately reduce their fuel bills, ATA said.

Featured speakers include:

•   Guy Caruso, administrator of the Energy Information Administration, who will discuss EIA's energy outlook during a keynote luncheon address 

 •   Sara Banaszak, senior economist for the American Petroleum Institute, who will discuss the economic and geopolitical factors influencing crude oil and diesel prices

•   Steve Graham, vice president of Schneider National Inc., who will teach attendees advanced fuel purchasing strategies and discuss how to properly hedge diesel fuel purchases

•   Allen Schaefer, president of Diesel Technology Forum; Ken Adams, vice president of Jevic Transportation Inc.; Ron Szapacs, maintenance specialist for Air Products & Chemicals Inc.; and Dan Umphress, managing director of maintenance solutions for FedEx Freight, who will participate in a panel discussion on how the right truck and engine specifications can reduce fuel consumption

•   Braxton Vick, senior vice president of Southeastern Freight Lines Inc., who will present methods for reducing fuel costs by optimizing truck routes

•   John Sullivan, director of service for Boydstun Metal Works Inc., who will present strategies to conserve fuel by reducing speed and idling time

•   Richard Wood, president of Solus Solutions and Technologies LLC, who will discuss trailer specifications and aerodynamic packages that decrease fuel consumption

•   Mark Clark, manager of Vehicle/GSE Engineering Worldwide for FedEx Express, who will speak about how using the correct tires can optimize fuel efficiency

•   Kirk Altrichter, vice president of maintenance for Gordon Trucking Inc., who will present strategies for implementing driver incentive programs to conserve fuel for your fleet

•   ATA First Vice Chairman Charles "Shorty" Whittington, president of Grammer Industries Inc., who will speak about the economics of biodiesel and whether alternative fuels could help reduce fleet fueling costs.

ATA’s workshop comes as the trucking industry is experiencing the highest prolonged fuel prices in history. For some motor carriers, fuel is beginning to surpass labor as their largest expense. ATA has called upon the Bush administration to address this crisis by immediately taking steps to increase diesel fuel supply.

ATA has urged the federal government to help alleviate trucking companies' hardships by doing the following:

•   Stop filling and instead release oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve

•   Establish a national diesel fuel standard

•   Allow environmentally responsible exploration of oil-rich areas in the United States that are now off limits 

•   Allow environmentally responsible development of crude resources in oil shale and tar sands in Colorado, Utah and Wyoming

•   Work with the 50 state attorneys general to combat any fuel price gouging that might occur

•   Continue to fund EPA’s SmartWay Transport Partnership Program, which teaches and encourages fuel-saving strategies

•   Streamline EPA's regulatory framework for reviewing and processing applications for additional refinery operations

•   Require speed limiters set for 68 mph or lower on all new trucks

•   Set a national maximum speed limit of 65 mph

•   Suspend the collection of the 12 percent federal excise tax on motor carriers' purchase of auxiliary power units (APUs), which cut the consumption of fuels in idling truck engines

•   Require states to grant a weight exemption for APUs and

•   Close a federal loophole that provides a tax benefit for the exportation of biodiesel.