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FUEL COST TROUBLES * USA - Trucking firms seeking to offset diesel prices
Trucking companies say they're left in a tough spot -- forced to absorb rising costs but unable to raise rates...
Greensboro,NC,USA -The Business Journal of the Greater Triad Area, by Laura Youngs -April 4, 2008: -- ... as diesel prices threaten to break $4 a gallon... Rising fuel costs are nothing new, but in recent weeks, the prices of unleaded gas and diesel have climbed quickly... But with a weak economy, local trucking firms say they're hesitant to raise their rates for fear of losing customers... In the meantime, companies are looking for ways to save money, from battery-powered generators that reduce the need to idle (hence wasting fuel) to carefully plotting drivers' routes to reduce the miles driven. But all of that might not prevent companies from having to raise rates at some point... Companies have been able to pass some of the extra cost on to customers in the form of fuel surcharges, but that doesn't include rising costs from other fuel-related issues, such as the cost of tires, which are made using petroleum, or the fuel surcharge trucking companies themselves pay when they receive shipments... The amount of freight available for hauling also has been decreasing, some of it because of a slower economy, local carriers say. In the case of the furniture industry, already in decline, the slow housing market is hurting business, making for fewer truckloads to be hauled... (Photo: Julie Knight - Edward Massood of MGM Transport Corp. in High Point said a recent jump of 20 cents a gallon in diesel is costing him as much as $7,500 extra a week)Labels: fuel cost troubles
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