April miles travelled in the US fell from March despite summer season start

London (Quantum Commodity Intelligence) - The number of vehicle miles travelled in the United States during April, which can be used as a proxy for road fuels demand, dropped to 7.4% below the 2019 figure from 3.6% below the prior month, according to data released Thursday by the US Department of Transportation.

The number of miles travelled during April was 256,520, down 6,265 miles on the month and 20,456 miles from 2019.

The largest falls from 2019 were seen in the more populous coastal states, as well as Michigan in the mid-west.

The east coast PADD I districts miles travelled was down 10,477 from 2019, or 10.7%, at 87,184 miles.

Miles travelled in PADD IV, made up of west coast states, was down 9.9% from 2019 at 45,240.

PADD II's mid-western states' miles travelled was 56,821, down 7.5% from April 2019, but this was mostly due to very depressed numbers for Michigan, Illinois and Kansas.

PADD III Gulf Coast and PADD V rocky mountain states' driving miles were down only 4% and 3% respectively, at 56,735 and 10,544.