Truckers fight to survive amid diesel fuel rise

The rise in the price of diesel fuel has cost Walt Bosma a few steak dinners, and left him scrambling to find ways to save and cut costs as he drives his tractor trailer across the country.

Bosma, 62, of Michigan, stopped for a break in his 300 mile trucking route Monday at a Kangaroo convenience store in Dothan. Bosma planned to stay overnight in the sleeper unit of his truck, which is powered by a diesel generator. He parked at the Kangaroo convenience store, located at the corner of Headland Avenue and Ross Clark Circle, which sold diesel fuel for $4.53 per gallon.

“They’re a few pennies cheaper here than at home,” Bosma said. “It’s running around $4.69 a gallon at home.”

Bosma said his fuel costs have more than doubled per week over the past year, jumping from about $1,500 a week to $2,500 to $3,000 per week in 2008. By the July 4 holiday Bosma said he expects average costs to reach between $5 and $5.50 per gallon.

Rising fuel costs have left truck drivers scrambling to find ways to conserve energy and costs, which included a more regular check on the air pressure of the truck’s tires for Bosma.

“I drive 5 mph under the speed limit if I can,” Bosma said. “It gives you better fuel mileage.”

Bosma, who has worked as a truck driver for 38 years, said he gets between 6.7 to 9 miles per gallon.

James Fahey, of Bryant, Ark., who stopped at the Flying J truck stop off Ross Clark Circle, said most truck drivers are looking for the best deal when it comes to buying their fuel.

“We’re all slowing down, because it increases our fuel mileage,” Bryant said. “The lowest fuel costs in the nation are in this area.”

Trickle down

The cost of diesel fuel has also led to an increase in cost in other areas, Bosma said. The fuel crunch has forced him to eat out fewer times. Bosma works for Eagle Express out of Ludington, Mich., which has a fleet of about 150 trucks.

“You don’t get the steak dinners like you used to,” Bosma said. “It ain’t just fuel prices. It’s price of tires and oil. All your commodities are going up, you know your bread and milk. It’s mostly because of the shipping.”

Jim Franklin, the Chief Financial Officer for AMX trucking out of Ashford, agreed with Bosma.

“If it was just a little more stable where you didn’t see those increases on a daily basis that would certainly help,” Franklin said. “There’s not too many costs that are not driven by fuel. Our tire costs have gone up, and anything that’s petroleum based. Something as simple as servicing a truck, we’ve really seen it increase.”

The rise in the cost of diesel could cause some smaller carriers to go out of business, Franklin said.

Franklin said the fuel crunch has led the company, which includes a fleet of about 250 trucks, to reach special deals with some of the larger truck stops on fuel prices. The company has also tried to keep their drivers from straying from trucking routes. They also use special computer software to generate the best travel routes.

“It’s not good that fuel is going up, but the fact that it’s so volatile it kind of compounds the problem,” Franklin said.