March 10, 2008
Albany -- Trucking companies and independent drivers are getting hit hard by the prices at the pump. "It does effect us a little bit because they are a little more particular with how they route us, and how we fuel," said company truck driver, Tony Marshall.
"If you spend more on fuel it takes away from your bottom end. You just have to gauge how much you put in the tank. If you put more in the tank, you go home with less," said independent driver, Greg Rivers.
And fuel expenses take a big chunk from independent drivers' salaries. "Well with the way prices are now, maybe its about six or seven hundred dollars to actually fill up. But I don't fill up. I just put enough in to get me to where I am trying to go," said Rivers.
"Yeah its going to hurt us, but eventually you go to Wal-Mart or where ever you go shopping, you are going to end up paying for it in the long run," said Marshall.
Though everyone is concerned with the price of gas; it's the cost of diesel that is driving up the prices at the grocery store. "The trucking companies are going to have to charge more for the cost of the transport. And it's all going to trickle down to the consumer in the end," said Marshall.
"With the price of gas and the price of diesel, its taking a whole lot out of the household. Since I own my own truck, if I think its getting too hard; I will just do something else," said Rivers.
And though gas prices may have you cutting back, they could eventually cost these drivers their jobs. The national average for a gallon of diesel is up a dollar and three cents from a year ago.
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