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FUEL COST TROUBLES * USA - Driven to the end of the road
As opportunities to haul freight shrink with the declining U.S. economy, and diesel costs soar, independent truckers are fast becoming a vanishing breed
Lake Station,IND,USA -The Chicago Tribune (Chicago,ILL), by Stephen Franklin -March 25, 2008: -- With its croaks and whines and oil spilling out, the engine in Tim Fischer's truck is telling him a story, Fischer said, and he hopes it's not a tragedy... If it is, then his one-man trucking business is finished, since he cannot afford an overhaul, let alone a new engine. As it is, he pays only a few important bills, and tries to reassure his wife that they will get through this crisis. But he has his doubts... In a few minutes he'll continue on a low-paying haul from Iowa to the East Coast that he accepted only because he needs money to stay ahead of bills... Truckers like him are vanishing from the nation's highways. Vulnerable before, they are almost defenseless now. Facing dwindling freight shipments as the U.S. economy shrinks, fierce competition from job-hungry truckers that keeps rates down, and diesel fuel costs surging over $4 a gallon in some areas, the highest since the government began keeping inflation-adjusted figures in 1980, their financial woes force them to cash out daily... This is a reality that spells an uptick in profit for Nassau Asset Management, one of the nation's largest repossession firms. Last year its truck repossessions surged 110 percent, and there's been no let up so far this year... (Photo by Zbigniew Bzdak /The Tribune -March 18, 2008: Tim Fischer of Carlisle, Ind., inspects his truck after a breakfast at the Flying J truck stop in Lake Station, Ind.)* Truckers have no choice passing on their pain at the pump to the consumers
Commerce City,CO,USA -9NEWS.com (Denver,CO), by Simone Wilkinson -25 March 2008: -- All drivers feel the hit on the pocket book when they get gas, but truck drivers are finding the experience particularly painful... The national average for diesel has reached nearly $4 a gallon. The trucking industry can't absorb the high costs... "From groceries to furniture, anything that has the potential of being in a truck, all those items are going to go up. It's going to affect everybody. Not just truck drivers," Dennis Mintling, owner of a trucking business said... Truck drivers say they do expect diesel prices to drop at the end of summer, but don't believe they will ever see prices drop as low as $3.50 again...* High diesel costs cut truckers' profits
Greenland,NH,USA -Portsmouth Herald News (Portsmouth,NH)/The Sea Coast on Line, by Karen Dandurant -March 25, 2008 — The price of diesel fuel has truckers steamed over the huge impact it’s having on their bottom lines... Fueling his big rig at the Travel Port in Greenland, Florida driver Rich Soboloski said the cost is making major cuts to his profit. Soboloski drives for independent haulers and is working towards getting his own truck... J.R. Chisholm, from Somerville, Texas, has been a truck driver for 35 years. He said when he started, diesel was about 75 cents a gallon. At the Travel Port, diesel was $4.13 and $4.18 a gallon... Dick Desrosiers, owner of Piscataqua Transportation in Greenland, said his company is running about 20 trucks presently. Desrosiers runs flatbed carrier trucks that mainly deal with the construction industry... "We’re putting $800 of fuel in each truck," said Desrosiers. "It’s just killing us. This industry right now is so soft, we’re not able to pass it on. We’re absorbing a big chunk of the cost and prices are going up faster than we can adjust to it."... (Photo by Rich Beauchesne - Rich Soboloski, a truck driver from Florida, fuels his large-capacity diesel tanks during a stop at the TA Travel Center in Greenland on Tuesday. The high cost of diesel is incentive for truck drivers to follow the speed limit, as fuel efficiency can decrease as speed increases) * Trucking Company Dealing with Rising Gas Prices - Owner wondering if he can stay in business
Mission,TX,USA -KRGV/newschannel5(Weslaco,TX,USA) -March 24, 2008: -- Valley truckers are forced to deal with rising fuel prices. "What I'm faced with every morning when I wake up is... am I able to pay off my fuel today?" says Wayne Toney, owner and operator of D&T Transportation... He says he spends $10,000 a day to keep his fleet on the road and has had to adjust his rates... Last year, he charged $3,400 to ship produce to New York... He's owned his trucking company since 1996. But he tells us he feels the business is slipping away... He's not alone in his worries... With little relief in sight, Toney, like many others, is left wondering how he'll make it... "Am I going to be able to keep my trucks and stay in the trucking business? And quite honestly, I don't know if I'm going to be able to," he admits...Labels: fuel cost troubles
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