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U.S. Truck Boom Shows Why Oil’s Demand Comeback Is Here to Stay

  • Refilling warehouses means more truck driving and diesel use
  • Freight seen at ‘peak-season-like levels’ through 2021
Trucks haul shipping containers at the Port of Los Angeles.
Trucks haul shipping containers at the Port of Los Angeles.Photographer: Patrick T. Fallon/Bloomberg

For a look at how dramatically U.S. oil consumption is roaring back, consider this: Bennie Baucham, a trucker for four decades, hasn’t been this busy in years.

Baucham is making three round trips a night with containers from the Los Angeles and Long Beach ports to warehouses in Southern California’s Inland Empire, up from two a night during more normal times. The drive is an hour each way. He’s got to fill the tank on his 65-foot-long 18-wheeler every other day for all the shoes, clothing and electronics he’s moving.