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FUEL COSTS CRISIS * USA - The painful price to keep on truckin'
For most Maryland drivers, the $4-a-gallon fill-up is still a dire prediction
Baltimore,MAR,USA -The Baltimore Sun, by Michael Dresser -April 19, 2008: -- ... But for those who depend on diesel to power their trucks and tractors and family cars, four-buck fuel has been a fact of life since February... AAA Mid-Atlantic reported yesterday that diesel was selling for an average $4.24 - up $1.30 from a year earlier. But diesel prices have risen at percentages far outstripping the cost of regular gasoline. Last year at this time, diesel cost only 6 cents more than gasoline... The effects of the high cost of diesel are being felt through every sector of the state and national economy: higher fuel prices drive up the cost of hauling everything from beer to baby strollers to market. Food costs, particularly sensitive to the price of fuel, rose 1.2 percent last month as the economy posted some of the worst inflation numbers in three decades...
In the trucking business, he said, it's hard for small operators to pass along their increased costs in the form of surcharges. With a weak economy, it's too easy for customers to take their business elsewhere... Louis Campion, senior vice president of the Maryland Motor Truck Association, said the bigger trucking companies have largely been able to add fuel surcharges. But smaller companies, without the market power to make them stick, in many cases have had to eat much of the added expense. Some smaller carriers have simply parked their trucks, he said... Back in Bel Air, McGuirk wishes for a halt to the diesel price spiral. But he's not optimistic about his prospects."Right now, I'm going to say it's not looking good because the end is not in sight," he said. "Where's the end? There's no end."... (Sun photo by Glenn Fawcett - Leo Loyola of Tampa, Fla., who owns his own trucking operation, takes on fuel at the Flying J truck stop in North East)* Cost of diesel fuel cuts into profits for truckers
Maybrook,NY,USA -The Times Herald-Record, by Christine Young -April 20, 2008: -- Bobby Locke pulled off Interstate 84 at Exit 5, got out of his rig and pointed to worn treads on the tires... "I'm burning money," said Locke, a 68-year-old independent trucker from Stewart, Fla. "I'm surviving, but I'm not making money to buy tires."... That's because, with diesel fuel recently soaring past $4 per gallon, a big chunk of Locke's wages goes into the tank... During his 3,400-mile weekly run between Florida and Massachusetts, Locke usually fills up in Virginia, where diesel fuel is about 50 cents a gallon less than in New York... Still, he pays more now than he can ever remember during his 50 years on the road... "I don't have no money to keep my truck up," he said. "My truck's going down because it's all going out the exhaust pipe."... In New York, the price hike is putting some small truckers out of business... Locke predicted that a lot of drivers will be forced to postpone maintenance, which will compromise safety on the road... The state's Department of Transportation says so far, that hasn't been a problem... "We conduct random roadside inspections and track results statistically," said DOT spokeswoman Jennifer Post. "The reality is that the rate of vehicles we've taken out of service in recent years is continuing to lessen."... (Photo by JOHN PERTEL/Times Herald-Record - Independent truckers usually know where gas prices are lowest, and Bobby Locke is no exception. Here, he stops for a driving break in Maybrook, but waits till he reaches Virginia to fuel up) Video: Take a ride along with Bobby Locke * Truckers Protest High Diesel Prices
Baltimore,MAR,USA -WJZ, by Peggy Lee -Apr 19, 2008: -- ... In Maryland, a gallon of diesel costs you $4.25... "It's like 55 to 60% of your earnings going in the tank and it's crazy," said driver Shawn Minck... Robert Wilson owns a towing company but says the only thing being hauled out is his profit. He, like others, says rising diesel fuel is driving out their business... For Minck, filling up his truck costs $1,100, causing him to cut back... "I don't even fill it up anymore. I just put enough in to make the next trip. After I deliver it, I get the next load. I figure out how much it takes me to put fuel in from there," Minck said... And that's why for drivers like Julie Sosbe, working for a company is keeping her afloat... (See Video)
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