Regret the Error

An article in Business Day on Tuesday about the rising price of diesel misstated the amount of diesel and gasoline used by Americans in 2007. They used about 3.395 billion barrels of gasoline, not 3.395 billion gallons, and about 1.55 billion barrels of diesel and heating oil, not 1.55 billion gallons. (At 42 gallons to the barrel, the correct figures in gallons are 143 billion gallons of gasoline and 65 billion gallons of diesel and heating oil.) The article also misquoted Jim Frieze, equipment director for O & S Trucking of Springfield, Mo., who commented on the driving practices of some truckers. He said that gearshifts that take the engine over 1,800 r.p.m. — not 8,000 r.p.m. — waste fuel. Link