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I read with a skeptical eye the article quoting Mr. Roger Nielsen on the demise of the diesel (Transport Topics 4-29, p. 1). It’s true that the clipper ship Cutty Sark had only a decade before the age of steam kicked her off her pedestal as the fastest way to transport tea, but I also wonder if Mr. Nielsen’s predicted demise of the diesel engine may turn out to be an exaggeration.

I read Transport Topics regarding Exxon Mobil’s recent shipment of its first tanker load of U.S. crude oil from Beaumont, Texas, to its refinery in Sicily, Italy. The article also indicated that a 40-year export ban had been lifted.

These Letters to the Editor appear in the March 3 print edition of Transport

These Letters to the Editor appear in the Dec. 23 & 30 print edition of Transport Topics.

The two highest costs for most trucking companies are fuel and driver labor (not always in that order). When it comes to fuel, most industry companies find relief through surcharges, which allow them to bill shippers for pump prices above a baseline per-gallon cost.

In a story in your Jan. 7 issue noting that diesel consistently costs more than gasoline, [one source] comments that diesel is being phased out as a fuel of choice for much of the transportation sector.

This is in reference to the article “Shippers Support Trucking Industry’s Campaign to Get Congress’ OK for Longer, Heavier Vehicles.”

About the two May 17 “rate setting” letters: It’s important for trucking companies to understand that we are the ones who set the rates.

Review of the 2007 generation of diesel engines has been a very hot topic this year. At the annual American Trucking Associations Technology & Maintenance Council meeting, I was one of the panelists asked to score the performance of the 2007 engines based on TransAm’s experiences.