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FUEL COST TROUBLES * USA - Drivers just tryin' to keep on truckin'
Greeley,CO,USA -The Greeley Tribune, by Rebecca Boyle -April 13, 2008: -- Neal Leffler thinks he might have to park his truck if diesel prices stay at current levels... Leffler has been driving a semitrailer for 23 years and has seen his share of ups and downs. But now he faces even more obstacles as an owner-operator truck driver, thanks to one primary necessity: fuel... Hard times for the trucking industry will likely be felt by consumers, Pitcher and Fulton said. They both recalled the blizzards of 2006, when supermarkets went without fresh dairy products or produce for several weeks... "In that storm, the state patrol was trying to convoy in some trucks for grocery stores because they were literally out of food," Fulton said. "So you realize how incredibly fragile the overall logistics is."... (Photo by BRET HARTMAN - Walter Twohorses fills up his truck Wednesday at the Stampede Travel Plaza in Evans. Twohorses said he used to own his own truck hauling produce, but the high cost of fuel was one reason he now has to work for Trimac hauling crude oil) * Diesel prices forcing truck drivers to park rigs, careers
Joplin,MO,USA -The Joplin Globe, by Melissa Dunson -12 April 2008: -- Trucking is all Neosho driver Jimmie Farley has ever known... He inherited the business from his father, worked 40 years at it, and planned to pass it on to his own 15-year-old son. But as diesel prices continue to climb, he sees that future slipping away... “I’ve done this for 40 years, and this is the hardest I’ve seen it,” Farley said. “I would love to pass this on to my son because I made a good living at it, but I don’t see that it will ever amount to anything now. I told my 15-year-old to go to school. He loves trucks, but I told him to go do something else.”... (Globe/Roger Nomer Rene Tavarez fills up his truck with diesel at Con-Way Truckload, the parent company of CFI in Joplin. Diesel prices nationwide have been averaging just less than $4 per gallon, compared to $2.80 to $2.85 per gallon in April of 2007) * Trucker tacks on fuel charge
Great Falls,MT,USA -The Great Falls Tribune -13 April 2008: -- "It's tough trying to survive in a time with low freight volume and extremely high fuel costs," K & K Trucking's Bertelsen said... Bertelsen has a fuel surcharge built into contracts with long-time customers, based on actual fuel costs. Currently he tacks on an extra 55 cents per mile, the cost of operating an 80,000-lb. truck and trailer with load that gets about 5 miles per gallon... But it's not easy to get other occasional shipping customers to pay the full surcharge, he said. That's because the freight market is down during the tight economy and because companies added too many trucks when the economy was better a few years ago... In the meantime, he said, "it's a daily battle and we're hanging on by the skin of our teeth"...
* Record diesel prices hit truckers hard
Bend,OR,USA -The Bend Bulletin, by Andrew Moore -April 13, 2008: -- Filling up his semi with diesel Thursday at Gordy’s Truck Stop in La Pine, trucker Satmam Sangha, of Yuba City, Calif., gently shook his head as he watched the pump tick off another hundred dollars... “Too much money,” Sangha said. “Too much.”... A few yards away from Sangha, Harry Herman waited for a fellow driver, Greg Cotten, to finish filling up his big rig. The two were returning to Hood River after delivering apple juice to processing facilities in Southern California... Both were happy that, unlike independent truckers, they don’t pay for their own fuel. “I couldn’t afford (to be an independent trucker),” Herman said... Independent truckers, also called owner-operators, may be suffering the most from the price surge, especially local truckers who make day trips and are being hit with the “double whammy” of expensive fuel and a slow housing market that has reduced construction-related deliveries, said Bob Russell, president of the Oregon Trucking Association... The construction slowdown means fewer deliveries of lumber, drywall and other building supplies and affects the many local truckers who haul materials for the industry, he said... (Photo by Andrew Moore / The Bulletin - Diesel prices are at record highs nationwide, including at Gordy’s Truck Stop in La Pine on Thursday, where diesel was selling for $4.269 per gallon and PUC diesel for $3.969) * High prices hurt those who make their living on the road
Greenwood,SC,USA -The Greenwood Index Journal, by JENNIFER COLTON -April 13, 2008: -- While skyrocketing fuel prices might be hitting your wallet now, your bank account could get hit from other directions as trucking companies struggle to absorb transportation costs... Said Danny Riddle, president of Smith & Waters. “Some of it you can recover through surcharges, but some of it you can’t. We will have to keep passing on the cost. Anything the trucks haul -- food, clothing or any product that comes by truck -- the price is going to increase.”... Despite the grim outlook, business owners are trying to keep positive, like Jimmy Coats, of Jim’s Moving and Delivery Service"... “I have to turn down some customers from long-distance trips because it costs me too much. I narrowed my location down for travel, but it helps to know to keep faith and don’t give up. Bad things don’t last forever,” he said... “I will stay positive, and I hope there will be an improvement with a new president coming in, start focusing on this country’s economy. Rather than just giving up and being negative, I like to stay positive and hope there will be an improvement in the next two or three years.”... Labels: fuel cost troubles
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