Now That The Soviets Have Invaded Ukraine...

Like Turtle said Bruce….

You've been around long enough now to know that conversations sometimes go off in wildly different directions. No one is forcing you to read this or comment.

So sure op may of intended this to be more about trucking the Russian history but it evolved as topics usually do.

Thank you Bird. I don’t feel forced to read what is posted. I do so because I read everything that is posted. I even read yours.

Like Turtle said Bruce….

You've been around long enough now to know that conversations sometimes go off in wildly different directions. No one is forcing you to read this or comment.

So sure op may of intended this to be more about trucking the Russian history but it evolved as topics usually do.

Thank you Bird. I don’t feel forced to read what is posted. I do so because I read everything that is posted. I even read yours.

Stop it! Enough of this back and forth sniping.

Slightly higher oil prices won't affect the industry that much. As a variable cost, it's a pass-thru. Freight rates go up to cover the fuel costs, the shipper pays more and then the costs get passed on to the consumer - similar to what's going on with container vessels. At some point if the costs get high enough it may affect the volume of freight but hasn't dented the demand for containers from China so far even though container rates have more than doubled in the last year.

The real danger is if Russia shuts off their oil taps to the West. Some of you may be surprised to learn the US is still buying Russian oil and not planning to stop. As things get uglier in the Ukraine conflict that becomes a much more likely possibility. Where the US imports our oil from:

Canada 4,500,000 BPD

Mexico 700,000 BPD

Russia 595,000 BPD

Saudi Arabia 555,000 BPD

BPD = Barrels Per Day

Now, Russia can still sell their oil to China so they're not really inconvenienced in any way if they cut us off. The US will have a real hard time finding an extra 595,000 BPD of oil. It will take a year or more to ramp up production elsewhere to cover that. With drastically higher oil prices from the shortfall producers will have little incentive to speed things up. Rationing, stock outs and higher prices are very real possibilities. Of course, there will be a trickle down of supply chain disruptions because of this. Imagine pulling into the Flying J to fuel up only to learn that they are out of diesel and aren't expecting a fuel truck for two days!

I got fuel several days ago in California at a Love's. The pump price was $5.16 (highest I have ever seen) and the station was rationing it to 65 gallons per truck. This was before the invasion.

I got fuel several days ago in California at a Love's. The pump price was $5.16 (highest I have ever seen) and the station was rationing it to 65 gallons per truck. This was before the invasion.

The government has a strategic oil/fuel reserve that can be used to stabilize fuel prices, gasoline and, most importantly diesel. I’ve read reports that the Biden administration is considering using this option. Can anyone elaborate on this?

Yeah, Job Killer Joe used the Strategic Reserve a few months ago. Gas prices dropped about 3 CENTS for a week.

The Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) currently has an inventory of 582.4 million barrels of oil. . The US currently uses 17,177,648 barrels of oil per day so the SPR could hold us over for just under 34 days. If we only had to replace Russia's 595,000 BPD the SPR would last just under 978 days. But wait, if Russia cuts off oil exports to the US they will probably cut off exports to the EU and Japan as well. Our allies will expect us to float them. Europe imports 3.1 million BPD from Russia and Japan imports 170,000 BPD. To float our allies with the SPR we would use (in thousand barrels per day): 595 (US) + 3,100 (EU) + 170 (JP) = 3,865. That would leave us with a little over 150 days of oil provided nothing else happened to oil supplies or production. If a refinery gets blown up or millions of barrels of oil in the ground become radioactive the numbers would change.

I'm thinking of expatriating to Russia but all I really know is truck driving. What do you think my prospects would be as an American?

The Soviets are not now, nor have they ever been, a friend to these United States of America. Hate to be a downer.

This is very far from truth. Both nations fought against their common Nazi enemy during WWII. I agree, it was not for long, but nonetheless it was, and at that short time they were like brothers. My late grandfather told me about that.

I'm from Scranton and my grandfather & great-grandfather were coalminers there and we are now treated similarly. I think I'd feel just as much at home in a foreign country as my hometown about now.

Andrey, did you come from one of those places? Please give us some basic description of what life is like in those places. What it like to be a truck driver there.

Bruce, I visited these places many years ago. Most of what I know comes from my relatives who live there. I don't want to move this thread away from our general topic, so I'll answer very briefly: Donetsk and Lugansk is a coal mining region. It does have universities and theaters, but still the majority of its population is treated by Ukrainian authorities as dumb and retarded. In 2014 people claimed independence, pretty much like Americans did in 1776. Ukraine called them separatists and declared war. Since then people of this region have been fighting for freedom. Unfortunately, I cannot say anything about truck driving there - I've never driven anything bigger than a minivan before I came to America twenty years ago.

I'm thinking of expatriating to Russia but all I really know is truck driving. What do you think my prospects would be as an American?

The Soviets are not now, nor have they ever been, a friend to these United States of America. Hate to be a downer.

This is very far from truth. Both nations fought against their common Nazi enemy during WWII. I agree, it was not for long, but nonetheless it was, and at that short time they were like brothers. My late grandfather told me about that.

Paul, why move there? That sounds crazy to me , unless you have a love interest there. In that case, it sounds even crazier

Truck driving there? I would have serious doubts that you could get a job.