Local

Pain at the Pump: Independent truck drivers feeling the pinch of diesel fuel prices

FRANKLIN — Higher fuel prices mean more pain at the pump for drivers but for people that make their living on the road like truck driver owner-operators, the soaring numbers are threatening their jobs and careers.

Truckers pull off the highway to try and get some rest and fuel up but with gas prices where they are, for most of the drivers pulling into a truck stop is anything but relaxing.

“Either way, you’ve got to pay,” said Herman Tibbs.

>> Texas school shooting live updates: “When I have to sign 21 death certificates, my heart will drop”

Truckers were lining up at the fuel pumps at a Franklin truck stop, Tibbs pulled in and decided not to fill up at the location with prices at $5.39 a gallon for diesel fuel.

Tibbs said, “140 gallons that would be about $700-$800.”

Tibbs decide instead to do his pre-trip inspection, checking his truck to make sure it’s ready to for the road.

“I have to pay for the fuel. I have to do my taxes. It’s a small one-man trucking company,” Tibbs said.

Tibbs is one of more than 3.5 million drivers that don’t work for a trucking company. They are owner-operators, working for themselves. He knows the pain higher prices at the pump cause for driving and the food chain down the line. The groceries for his cab are skyrocketing.

“Went from $90 to $160,” Tibbs said.

>> Dayton businessman sentenced to prison in final case after federal corruption probe

He said his freight rates have gone up and his fuel surcharges, so the higher costs he has he has to pass along to consumers. Everyone is facing tough decisions.

“Do I buy gas, medications, groceries. Which do I have to do without? Tibbs said.

He decided to head south on Interstate 75 and fuel up in Kentucky where he was picking up a load heading to Iowa. He said diesel fuel prices were 30 cents a gallon cheaper in Kentucky than in Ohio.

Even in Kentucky, he paid $772 to fill up two huge saddle tanks.

“It gets passed along to the customer, then the consumer,” he said.

Truckers said anything that comes to a store, comes to that store on board a truck. So, anything that affects their prices in the end affects prices for all of us.

0
Comments on this article