posted by admin on Jun 16
Every time the price of gasoline goes up a penny it costs the Postal Service $8 millionWashington,DC,USA -
AP, by RANDOLPH E. SCHMID –14 June 2008: --
... "We are definitely feeling the pressure," Deputy Postmaster General Patrick R. Donahoe told... Transportation cost the post office $6.5 billion in 2007, $500 million more than the year before... The post office operates the largest civilian fleet of vehicles in the country — 215,000 motor vehicles — and also faces rising costs for fuel from its contract carriers including truckers and airlines... It's both a matter or costs and usage, Donahoe explained — looking for ways to reduce costs and change use patterns to reduce the need for fuel... It's easier for the post office to raise rates than it used to be — the price of sending a letter went up a penny to 42 cents in May. Another price rise is expected next May, but postage increases are legally limited to the rate of inflation... That limit doesn't seem to apply to fuel costs which now top $4-a-gallon nationwide...
Tags:
transportation
posted by admin on Jun 10
Skyrocketing cost of diesel fuel puts strain on industry, owner-operators
Sugar Grove,OH,USA -
The Lancaster Eagle Gazette (Lancaster,OH,USA), by BRIAN SLODYSKO -9 June 2008: --
Pumping gas is painful for Mark Powers. And he doesn't expect the pain to lessen any time soon... Powers is co-owner of Powers Trucking in Sugar Grove... And the surging price of diesel - a nearly 60-percent increase in the past year or so - has resulted in a drop in business. He expects a one-quarter drop in business this year because the company had to increase its rates to offset the cost of fueling the 30 trucks in the fleet... His fuel bill likely will double this year... Powers said some of the smaller owner-operators might delay safety maintenance if they are having trouble making ends meet. But he said that was not a consideration for his company... "Myself, I would probably quit before it ever got that bad, but there are guys out there who have no choice," he said... (E-G photo by Jessica M. Crossfield - Truckers pump fuel on U.S. 33 in Lancaster on Friday. Because the cost of gas has increased during the past few years, the price of diesel fuel has skyrocketed)
Tags:
safety,
trucks
posted by admin on Jun 1
The skyrocketing cost of diesel has put the trucking industry in crisis and the only short-term solution is to increase freight costs by up to 10 per cent
Canberra,Australian Capital Territory,Australia -
The Canberra Times, by DAVID CURRY -29 May 2008: --
... Speaking at the National Trucking Convention at the Canberra Convention Centre yesterday, the Australian Trucking Association chairman Trevor Martyn said small trucking companies and owner drivers could no longer absorb the cost of diesel... In a separate statement he said if the industry's customers did not accept the need to pay freight costs that reflected the price of fuel, many trucking companies would go to the wall and there would be no way to move goods quickly... A Queensland owner-driver attending the convention, Frank Black, said smaller operators, as sub-contractors, were often not in a position to negotiate higher freight costs with the prime contractor... He said many owner drivers he knew were leaving the industry because they could no longer make a living. Those still driving were tempted to breach the safety laws and guidelines to break even... ''You've got to minimal sustainable rates to make the industry safe. All the rules and laws are going to count for nothing unless they fix the viability of [the industry].''... Federal Minister for Transport Anthony Albanese made no mention of the price of diesel or driver shortages when he addressed the convention yesterday... He talked instead about the Rudd Government's planned expenditure on infrastructure, drawn from the $20 billion ''building Australia'' fund announced in the budget...
Tags:
freight,
safety,
trucking companies
posted by admin on May 31
Everyone is feeling the pain at the gas pump. But diesel prices are even higher, over $5 per gallon locallyHillsdale,NY,USA -
The Columbia Independent Online (Columbia,NY), by RICHARD ROTH -29 May 2008: --
... That represents a $2 per-gallon increase in just one year... At those prices the owner-operator of a diesel truck, whose rig is likely to get four to five miles per gallon on average, is spending more than a dollar a mile just on fuel. Other petroleum costs have also gone up. An oil change is necessary every 10,000 miles--once a month for a long-haul trucker--and the eleven gallons of oil lubricating the crankcase of a large engine cost another $200... Some drivers are giving up and selling their trucks to meet the high demand for used vehicles in Russia, according to a Vermont driver who delivered wood chips to a Hillsdale garden supply store this week. Fuel costs are one problem, he said, but the general slowdown in the economy is also taking its toll... There are also concerns about fuel oil costs for the coming season, because fuel oil is closely related to diesel. Congresswoman Kirsten Gillibrand (D-20th) has urged the Congressional leadership to include $1 billion for the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) in the emergency appropriations bill currently being debated... Meanwhile, according the independent trucker Butch McWhirt , truck drivers are making the best of a bad situation. "There's stuff guys are scarfing up because they've got to try and make the truck payment," he said. "They're trying to ride out the storm, and hoping something better comes along"...
Tags:
trucks
posted by admin on May 30
It used to be that labor was the largest cost for his company. Today, the largest cost is fuel... Chattanooga,TN,USA -
The Chattanoogan, by Judy Frank -May 29, 2008: --
... U.S. Xpress Co-Chairman Patrick E. Quinn told Chattanooga Rotary Club members Thursday... The increased costs present cash-flow problems for many trucking companies because fuel bills often have to be paid daily – while companies must wait 30 days before they are reimbursed for the freight they used that fuel to haul... Consequently, many small trucking firms are being forced out of business, Mr. Quinn said... As the third largest privately owned truckload carrier in the nation, U.S. Xpress spends $12 to $13 million per week for diesel fuel, he said... Costs are escalating sharply, he noted... Skyrocketing fuel prices are not the only problem facing the industry. For example, one constant challenge is finding enough drivers... Another problem that faces the trucking industry – and the nation as a whole – is the deteriorating transportation infrastructure... Today, there are about 300 million people in the United States, he said. Fifty years from now, studies indicate, there will be 420 million... The larger population will significantly impact everything from traffic congestion to stresses on infrastructure, he said... Just to keep up, the nation needs to spend at least $225 billion annually for the next 50 years, he said. Currently, it is not doing that... "One price the nation pays for failing to maintain and/or improve its infrastructure is increasing traffic congestion, he said. If our commute this year takes five minutes longer than it did last year, we don’t see that as a major problem,” Mr. Quinn said. “But if the commute takes five minutes longer every year, then in a dozen years that’s an extra hour on the road..." 
Tags:
freight,
fuel prices,
transportation,
trucking companies
