VMT in April Shows Year Over Year Growth

The Federal Highway Administration reported (at some point earlier this month) that April vehicle miles traveled rose by 1,421 million miles over April 2008, the first year over year increase in vehicle miles traveled seen since October 2007. The increase in demand was predictable given the low average price of gasoline nationally. However, the national average price for regular gasoline for the week ended June 22 has risen to $2.691/gallon--well into the area where you see people driving less.



(The slight draw on distillate stocks seen in April, seen below, could indicate that there was some increase in freight trucked in that month. But, if that indicates some increased demand, the latest builds in commercial distillate stocks seems to indicate that demand has risen only slightly given the latest increase in refining utilization.)