CLARION CO., Pa. (EYT) — Everyone is feeling the pressure of fuel prices these days.
Adelin Colassim of St. Sebastien, Quebec stops to fill his truck in Bow, N.H. The trucker drives about 2,500 miles a week. AP Photo/Jim Cole.)
However, some entities, like trucking companies and delivery drivers, are affected much more than others.
Currently, the national average for the price of a gallon of diesel is $5.042, just under two dollars higher than the average a year ago.
“(Fuel prices) have definitely hurt,” Klapec Trucking Vice President Greg Lander told exploreClarion.com. “At first, it was getting a little concerning whether (fuel) was going to be available or not, let alone what the price of it was going to be.”
To give you a little perspective, the highest price Klapec Trucking drivers have paid per gallon was around $5.76. Each semi-truck carries up to 300 gallons, which calculates out to $1,728.00 per fill-up.
The trucking companies, usually private entities, cannot completely cover that cost. It will ultimately be filtered down to the consumer.
“There’s really not much you can do,” Lander said. “On a normal basis, we get the best fuel mileage equipment we can get. We’ve been doing that for years, but there is a fuel surcharge in place which passes the big increase along. We still end up getting hit with a big chunk of it, and it definitely still hurts us.”
Klapec Trucking is not the only company to pass on the cost to customers or give them a completely different rate altogether.
“Well, clearly, the top three costs for any trucking company are driver wages, fuel, and insurance. As everybody knows, fuel prices have increased and have actually doubled for us,” Barber Trucking Inc. Operations Manager Benjy Smith said. “We can’t absorb those costs, so those costs have to be passed on to our customers and then ultimately on to consumers.
“For the most part, our customers understand it,” Smith added. “They don’t like it, but they understand that it’s just the world we live in right now. They know they have to help us with it. Most customers, it’s a conversation, and they understand it. We go through a re-quoting or a re-submittal of rates package with them, and so far, it’s been okay. Again, they don’t like it, but it’s the world we’re in right now.”
Not only do the companies have to make adjustments in pricing, but they’re forced to make many logistical changes, as well.
“Our business has stayed steady, but we’re watching what we do and are trying to stay off toll roads and making sure our trucks are driving straight and efficient routes,” Air Ground Xpress Terminal Manager Susan Ballog explained.
Smith echoed Ballog’s sentiments on closely monitoring their truck activity.
“We’re paying much closer attention to, and we always do this so it’s not brand new but, we’re trying to eliminate or reduce the amount of movements of the vehicles if we don’t need to make them,” Smith noted.
“For instance, we’ve extended some of our maintenance and schedules a little bit so that we’re not bringing the trucks here quite as frequently. We’re trying to allow the drivers to take the truck home if it’s in route of their trip to reduce the fuel cost in their personal vehicles, as well as not adding extra miles to our vehicle,” Smith explained.
Employees play a crucial part in curtailing expenses for the company.
“(Our employees) recognize it and are taking an active role in trying to help,” Smith added. “Just because of the nature of what we do, it’s an everyday thing we worry about. I think everybody has a heightened sense of urgency right now.”
Currently, the average price for a gallon of unleaded sits at $4.305 in Venango County, $4.354 in Clarion County, and $4.334 in Jefferson County.
For more information on gas prices, visit AAA’s gas prices webpage.
