October Fuel Surcharge
October 2, 2008

Crude closed at $106.00 US per barrel this past Friday, after peaking over 12 weeks ago at over $145.00 US per barrel. Oil has been fluctuating quite a lot in the past 4 weeks with records being set for one day price movements. The continuing negative news surrounding the North American economy and now recently in the past few weeks, the catastrophic collapse of much of the U.S. financial system, is cause for concern. The increasingly negative news, which is spilling out each day, and the unprecedented government intervention in the markets is enough to make anyone nervous about what

is down the road. The financial problems arising from the US sub-prime mortgage crisis have spread across the globe, this is for certain. These financial problems will cause a ripple effect on the economy. This should lower crude costs as demand drops. However, one shouldn't be too optimistic vis a vis fuel pricing, as we are somewhat concerned with the historically low refinery utilization numbers which could cause a shortage of refined products. The situation is quite fuzzy and a faltering economy might not automatically mean dramatically lower energy costs. There has been enough of a drop in the rack prices to warrant a further lowering of our surcharge from 29% to 28% effective October 1st, 2008.

The sharp curtailment in shipping volumes, combined with high energy prices will continue to cause significant financial hardship for many carriers, and will result in more carriers going out of business.

We will continue to evaluate the surcharge again at the end of every month. This is a very unpredictable atmosphere to do business, however these measures need to be taken to ensure we remain profitable. Thank -you for your patience and understanding in this matter.
Best regards,

Greg Arndt
Vice-President
Jade Transport Ltd.

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