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FUEL COST TROUBLES * USA - Fuel or Sex ... !!! ???
* A choice that no one should have to make
Reno,Nev,USA -AOL NEWS/Pafoa.org -June 29, 2008: -- Rising fuel prices are putting a pinch on the world's oldest profession... Nevada brothels that cater to long-haul truckers are offering gas cards and other promotions after seeing business decline as much as 25 percent from a year ago, industry officials said... Geoffrey Arnold, president of the Nevada Brothel Owners' Association, said truckers account for up to 75 percent of business at the state's rural brothels along Interstate 80 and U.S. Highway 95...
* Diesel costs driving many independent truckers out of business
Salt Lake City -Deseret News, by Laura Hancock -29 June 2008: -- Julia and Lari Tadehara of Murray sank their life savings into their car-hauling business. They were losing $5,000 a month in recent months and finally parked the truck just weeks ago. Their 10-vehicle car-hauler is in a repair shop for maintenance before the Tadeharas sell it to recover some money... Business became difficult for them beginning this past December, when the price of diesel fuel began to spike...
(Photo 1· By Keith Johnson, Deseret News - Mike Osthoff, with Dealers Auto Transport, gets ready Tuesday for a trip delivering cars. High fuel prices have made an impact on his income, Osthoff says) ... A year ago, the national average price for a gallon of diesel fuel was $3 per gallon. Diesel is now about $4.78 a gallon, and in some states, it's past $5 a gallon. The result is that at least 935 truckers nationwide have gone out of business in the first part of this year, according to a recent study, and the numbers could rise... Independent drivers and small companies cannot easily absorb the rising cost of fuel, because they can't buy fuel in bulk at wholesale rates or afford trucks with better technology to control speed and other functions, like the large companies do... The small companies also tend to log more "empty miles" — miles driven without paid freight. The truckers that remain in the industry are having to make adjustments to survive...* Passing along costs
Salt Lake City -Deseret News, by Laura Hancock -29 June 2008: --
(Photo 2· By Jason Olson/Deseret News - Tara Dobson hooks up for another run. The Dobsons have changed their driving habits to save on fuel — removing the bug shield to improve aerodynamics and cutting back on breaks to save fuel wasted on slowing down and speeding up) ... Chris and Tara Dobson of North Salt Lake always drive as a team, with one driving while the other sleeps. Trucking is a second career for Chris Dobson, who has a psychology degree from the University of Texas at Austin and worked for almost a decade in sales and marketing. He and his wife chose trucking because she was looking for a new job, but the couple only had one car between the two of them... The couple researched the industry and got their commercial drivers' licenses in 2003. They drove for a trucking company before starting Dobson Transport in August 2006...
(Photo by Jason Olson, Deseret News - Truck-refrigeration units, like this one owned by Chris and Tara Dobson, take diesel fuel only. The price of diesel is now hovering near $5 a gallon) ... They have documented their costs for diesel fuel: They paid $32,310 from January through May of 2007 and $54,175 in that same period this year... But the couple has made more money from invoices this year: $139,337, up from last year's invoices of $111,873. They're not driving any more freight than last year. They've simply increased their shipping rates... They pocket the profits on their weekly trip to Raleigh, N.C., delivering Idaho potatoes to a grocery wholesale company because they negotiated the contract directly with the shipper. When fuel goes up 20-50 cents, they ask for more money, and the wholesaler complies, Chris Dobson said... On the way back West, the Dobsons transport mattress ticking fabric from Statesville, N.C. That contract is negotiated through a booking company, but the Dobsons get most of the profit and all of the fuel surcharge... The Dobsons, meanwhile, have changed their driving habits to save on fuel — removing the bug shield to improve aerodynamics, and reducing the number of breaks at trucking and rest stops to save fuel that's wasted on slowing down and speeding up... That adds about five hours to their weekly driving time. Last year, they'd arrive in North Salt Lake on Saturday morning. Now it's Saturday afternoon. The net result is a half day cut from their weekends. Their work week starts on Tuesday mornings ...
But the couple hopes to eventually expand their business by buying two to three more trucks and hiring drivers..."The more and more companies that go out of business, when things turn around, I'll buy their trucks and their routes," he said... (Photo 4 · By Jason Olson/Deseret News - Chris Dobson heads down a Salt Lake road on June 22. Dobson and his wife, Tara, started Dobson Transport in August 2006. The couple always drive as a team, with one driving while the other sleeps) Labels: fuel cost troubles
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