I was reading some of the recent threads on the rising fuel costs and I thought I would share something you guys: First off I own a trucking company FEX Transport Inc. out of Virginia Beach, VA. We pretty much haul produce from CA & AZ to the New England states and then back again. This fuel crisis has affected my industry badly. Right now trucking companies are going out of business by the hundreds. Truckers (specifically owner/operators) are helping you pay your grocery bill, hell they're helping you pay just about everything. The fuel has gone up 300% while their rates have gone up maybe 20%, every owner/operator I meet is getting ready to go bankrupt and some of them don't even realize it yet. For this to be fixed 1 of 2 things have to happen #1 Fuel cost drop down below $2 per gallon and you all know that is NEVER going to happen or the cost of shipping has to go up 200%. There is no other alternative! Now how does that affect you? It's like going to the store and buying a gallon of milk for $5/gal; produce in the east coast like broccoli, lettuce, strawberries, etc.. will double in price. I would say an all around minimum of 20% increase in just about everything. Anyways thanks for reading and next time to you see a truck driver on the road, give them a little extra space, maybe even a wave they deserve it.
We already pay 5 bucks a gallon here....But tell them muthatruckers to keep on keepin on and whatnot! They are an essential part of our economy.
As much as I HATE Bush this is not why all this is happening, but don't worry you have plenty to blame that idiot for (no offense to any Bush fans, if any exist). Basically the world created an excessive amount of fossil fuels which the US has happy to purchase at low rates. But about 5 or so years ago China, India, and few other countries entered their so called "industrial revolution" and they're using up a ton of fossil fuels, so basically the demand is greater than the supply hence the price of fuels is going through the roof. There's a hell of a lot more involved in this (like the massive outsourcing of labor to other countries from US manufacturers) but my little understanding of world economics can provide this much for you.
this doesn't suprise me at all, and its to be expected, as fuel costs go up so does everything else affected by shipping costs. I know a bunch of folks here that aren't feeling to happy about the investment in the big turbodiesels they purchased.
+1 Actually Bush has been trying to get more refineries built here and drilling done in Alaska and the Gulf for 8 years..that won't solve the problem altogether, but more production coming from the US would help pricing alot since we wouldnt have to buy as much oil from all the coutries that despise us. Unfortunately, the Dems and others in Congress have shot that idea down for 8 years. Bush has made plenty of mistakes but he has been right about trying to produce more oil domesitcally for the last 8 years, but somehow it can never get passed and he gets blamed. As was mentioned above the other issue is the rapid growth of China...and just like everything else oil prices with demand, and demad is increasing at an alarming rate.
My friend owns a business that relies heavily on diesel fuel, and now he's putting together his own bio-diesel machine that he's going to start using and selling simply because the cost of diesel has gotten to be too much for him. Some of those bio-diesel motors can make some insane power, too!
Have you seen the cost of B100 biodiesel lately. It is way higher than good old diesel fuel. Biodiesel is not the answer.
You are absolutely right. This has nothing to do with Bush. Wait until our new friends get into office. Price will be just as high plus there will likely to be some new taxes thrown in for good measure. Also, with world demand so close to world production capability, wait until the next hurricane or even the threat of any natural disaster and see where the prices land. There is no relief in sight until some of the dirty, $hitty, sour crude from the Alberta Oil Sands hits the US Refineries. Many oil companies are making multi-billion dollar investments in their refineries to give them the capability to process this nasty crude. The problem is that not all refineries can process sour crude. Sweet crude refineries can't be cost effectively modified to process the junk Canadian crude. We are probably a year away from seeing the Alberta Oil Sands crude in the midwest US refineries.
Then you have the rediculous Ethanol nonsense! It takes huge amounts of oil to make ethanol...between the diesel farmers use on their farms, to the plants refining it. It is a joke. Not to mention the huge price increase in corn due to the additional demand for ethanol. So now everything that uses corn, from cereal, to candy and everything in between costs more. On top of that we are losing acrss of land to farmers who are switching from growing wheat to corn because they can make more $$ becasue of the ethanol craze..now we are importing wheat from places like Russia! Keep in mind it has been decades since we imported something like wheat. This causes wheat prices to rise as well...WTF
I see this everyday. Here is the ironic part of it. Trucking companies that transport fuel are caught in that same dilemma. Their costs have skyrocketed and they are still charging the freight rates that they were charging two years ago. I hear tranporters complaining everyday that meeting their competitor's rates is going to put them out of business. Well, you know competitor has to be saying the same thing about them. So, when they all get their senses about them and raise the rates to where they need to be to survive, YOUR FUEL COSTS ARE GOING TO GO EVEN HIGHER. Freight rates don't just affect milk and carrots, it affects fuel too. It has to be trucked all over the country just like your groceries.
