Fuel prices impacting print spend?

Appended:
I apparently wrote this before the DOE announced the National average of $3.39 per gallon yesterday afternoon so the news gets better and better! The message is still the same just even more urgent than last week.

According to the Department of Energy's Energy Information Administration, Fuel prices are up 32% over this time last year. From an April 2007 average price of $2.36 per gallon to $3.11 per gallon this week. Diesel Prices currently average $3.95 per gallon up 111 cents since this time last year. Cost of shipping is definitely on the rise, paper is heavy and costly to ship, both to the printer and to the consumer. At the same time personal income has only rose 0.9% in the same period. Companies are taking a hard look at how to cut costs and anything involving freight charges will be scrutinized heavily.

Now is the time to be evaluating print production costs and focus heavily on freight charges.
What is freight costing?
Can I get a better freight cost at the expense of production costs?
Am I better served producing a job closer to the delivery destination?

If you don't have strategic suppliers providing you with cost effective print; YOU ARE LOSING MONEY. No question about it at this point. I would also heavily consider which jobs can be split to make production closer to destination so if you are split shipping consider split production. Ask your suppliers where they are producing if they have multiple facilities and challenge them if they are producing in a plant further from the destination than another plant. Now is not the time to let your suppliers dictate. I believe that the breaking point is very close. The word "Recession" is getting used daily on the news. I heard from a colleague today that his company is now on a hiring freeze. Companies are looking for cost effective ways to measure and source print spend consider looking at sourcing solutions that can help you evaluate based on these and other criteria.