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FUEL COST TROUBLES * USA - Higher diesel shrinks pay
Independent long-haul truckers fear for their livelihoods as their rigs' fuel tanks burn up most of what they earn
Portland,OR,USA -The Associated Press/The Oregonian/OregonLive.com, by Amy Hsuan -June 24, 2008: -- ... Four years ago, Guy Belland could make a decent living as an independent truck driver shuttling motor oil across the country for ConocoPhillips. Back then, diesel was $2.50 a gallon and Belland signed a five-year contract with a trucking firm that would earn him $50,000 to $75,000 a year... But with diesel prices climbing to now almost $5 a gallon, truckers like Belland are increasingly being squeezed out of a livelihood. Belland, based in California, has frequent routes through Oregon, which he calls home when his cab is parked here... Almost every dollar Belland earns goes toward filling his 1998 Freightliner, which used to represent freedom to the 50-year old rather than financial strain... "I'm barely living," says Belland, who started driving trucks 30 years ago and earned $25,000 last year. "It's bad. It's scary."... Belland, who used to drive 3,000 miles a week, is now lucky if he logs 1,500 miles... Like hundreds of thousands of independent truck drivers across the country, Belland's options are running out. "People don't realize that everything you eat, drink or touch at one point was on a truck," Belland says. "There's no other thing for me."...
Labels: fuel cost troubles
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