Higher prices for diesel fuel to run trucks is having a direct impact on prices at the grocery store. | Renee Gaudet/Pixabay
Higher prices for diesel fuel to run trucks is having a direct impact on prices at the grocery store. | Renee Gaudet/Pixabay
If you’re wondering about an explanation for food inflation, look no further than the local fuel pumps, where diesel fuel — the primary fuel for trucks — has climbed to an average of $5.14 per gallon, up more than $2 per gallon from a year ago.
You might notice higher gas prices driving up to the pump, but the cost of diesel is nearing an all-time high; a WGHP report said this week, quoting data from AAA.
While $5.14 is the average, prices were as high as $5.79 per gallon at the Travel Centers of America station in Burlington on Saturday, AAA said. Naturally, when the cost of diesel increases, that means the cost to transport products rises.
Truck drivers also point the finger at fuel costs.
“Basically as soon as diesel went up, chicken, beef, everything else went up,” truck driver Cresean Miller told WGHP. “I just put almost $450 [of diesel fuel in]. Two days ago, I put $300. Two days before that I put $350.”
Miller used to fill up his 200-gallon tank for approximately $350.
“I just put 70 gallons in my truck and it was over $350,” he said. “If I would’ve put 200 gallons in there it would’ve come out to almost a thousand dollars.”
If their trucks get an average of 5 or 6 miles per gallon, that means it’s costing drivers approximately $1 per mile to operate their rigs.
While the effect on prices at the grocery store is noticeable, think of what it’s doing to the independent trucker.
“Just imagine getting paid, like, $2,400 a week,” Miller said in the report. “Now, it’s like $1,500.”
They, too, are looking for ways to save, sometimes running on fumes so they can find a station that charges less.
“I want to go and try to find somewhere cheaper,” truck driver Julia Frazier said. “See if we have enough gas to make it to a different state and it may be a little lower.”
Unfortunately, the price surge is not restricted to the Triad, it’s nationwide.
As they watch their take-home pay shrink, some truckers wonder about the future of the industry.
“It’s going to run them away, even the younger guys,” Miller said. “Once they understand they can make more money at home, they’re not going to want to do this.”
That will undoubtedly result in more pressure on prices. It’s a vicious circle.
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