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FUEL COST TROUBLES * USA - For truckers, it’s now a matter of survival
“Somebody’s got to figure out why the fuel’s so high,” he said... Ah, but the devil’s in the details...
Mount Vernon,OH,USA -The Mount Vernon News, by Cheryl S. Splain -March 22, 2008: -- On March 16, the price of diesel nationwide averaged $3.984, according to the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association. Friday, it averaged $4.019, a mere 2 cents a gallon higher... But multiply it by the 120,000 miles the American Trucking Association reports truckers average a year, and that 2 cents represents an additional $2,400 a year in fuel costs. That’s if the price doesn’t go up any further... Last week, owner-operator Tom Bark of Apple Valley reported paying as much as $4.77 a gallon. Phil Wheeler of Wheeler Transport in Fredericktown has been luckier... “The highest fuel I have ever seen is maybe $4.20,” he said. “No doubt in some small towns, a mom and pop station that doesn’t service trucks might charge that much, but I’ve never seen it that high at a truck stop.”... Transportation companies are allowed to charge a fuel surcharge when there is a spike in fuel prices. The surcharge is paid by the company that has the freight to be shipped. Although the surcharge helps, it also ultimately increases the cost of the product... As an independent driver, Wheeler said he doesn’t get a fuel surcharge. Rather, he looks at each load, determines his cost, and tells the customer what he needs to make the run... Chad Beachler, vice president of Beachler Trucking Inc. in Loudonville, who carries temperature-controlled freight, said much of the problem began with deregulation in the 1970s and ’80s. The Interstate Commerce Commission, which was abolished in 1995, used to regulate the trucking industry, and set a standard rate per mile. With deregulation came freight brokers, who act as middlemen between companies that have freight to ship, and truckers who haul the freight. The broker quotes a rate to the shipper, then takes a percentage of that rate. The broker then quotes the reduced rate to the trucker. Beachler said the broker takes a cut, while leaving the trucking company to do most of the work... Wheeler and Beachler recall the protest and unrest when the cost of fuel skyrocketed in the ’70s and ’80s. Neither understands the lack of public response to the current high prices... Beachler also doesn’t understand why the oil industry has not upgraded its facilities since the 1950s... “We have an abundance of oil in this country,” he said. “They have not built the refineries to make the fuel to keep the price down.”... Wheeler had an even simpler solution... “Somebody’s got to figure out why the fuel’s so high,” he said... Ah, but the devil’s in the details...
* Truckers Slowing Down to Save Fuel
State troopers have noticed the decline in truckers' speeds, said North Dakota Highway Patrol Capt. Eric Pederson
Bismarck,ND,USA -AP, by JAMES MacPHERSON -22 Mar 2008: -- Coast-to-coast trucker Lorraine Dawson says fellow drivers used to call her "Lead Foot Lorraine." But with diesel fuel around $4 a gallon, she and other big-rig drivers have backed off their accelerators to conserve fuel... Dawson said she's cut her speed by five to 10 miles per hour to save money for her company. Many independent owner-operators have slowed even more, she said... Truckers and industry officials say slowing a tractor-trailer rig from 75 mph to 65 mph increases fuel mileage by more than a mile a gallon, a significant bump for machines that get less than 10 miles per gallon hauling thousands of pounds of freight. Even sitting still with the engine idling, a rig gulps about a gallon of diesel every hour... Fuel accounts for about a quarter of carriers' operating costs, and now is surpassing labor as the biggest expense for some carriers, said Tiffany Wlazlowski, a spokeswoman for the Arlington, Va.-based American Trucking Associations... Wlazlowski said the trucking industry does "anything that will help them save fuel." She said that includes outfitting trucks with aerodynamic fairings and special tires to improve mileage. Drivers also are using more efficient routes and reducing idling times... (Photo by James MacPherson/AP - Lorraine Dawson fills up her tractor-trailer at truck stop in Bismarck, N.D., on March 19, 2008. Dawson, of Tacoma, Wash., says she used to be known by fellow drivers as "Lead Foot Lorraine." But with diesel fuel at around $4 a gallon, she and other big-rig drivers have backed off their accelerators to conserve fuel)* Small Trucking Companies Hurt by Diesel Prices - Diesel prices averaging $4.28
Tully,NY,USA -WSYR/TV -21 Mar 2008: -- The price of gas right now probably has you mad, but imagine paying $4.28 a gallon, that's what diesel is running these days. It's putting a strain on trucking companies, especially the small ones who are having no choice but to pass the cost on to consumers.You see them running day and night up and down the highways, moving all types of goods from one place to another. But the cost of doing it, especially for the smaller trucking companies, is becoming unbearable... Stan Edinger, with H.S. Edinger and Sons, says, “Something here is going to have to happen, we just can't keep going on like it's been doing, especially the last month."... So for now they'll just try to ride it out.Truckers are paying almost a dollar more a gallon than we are for gas. The average price of a gallon of gas is $3.38 in the Syracuse area...Labels: fuel costs troubles
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