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Robert Sommers, an independent trucker from Dubois, Pa., who owns his own truck and contracts for U.S. Bulk Transport of Erie, Pa., pays a painful fuel bill at the Peterbilt Fuel Mart in Champlain. Clerk Kris Kissel rings up the sale.
P-R Photo/Bruce Rowland /


A load of new Kenworth trucks, one of them a hybrid, passes through Champlain on the way to Indiana. The Coca-Cola company recently bought 100 of the new rigs, many of which feature new innovations to help save on fuel costs.
P-R Photo/Bruce Rowland /


Independent trucker Judson Thomas stands next to his rig during a recent fuel stop. He believes truckers have not been given the same attention as airlines and other industries that are struggling with the fuel crisis.
P-R Photo/Bruce Rowland /


Trucks pull up to the pumps at the Peterbilt Fuel Mart in Champlain for a fill-up. Skyrocketing diesel prices are threatening the livelihoods of many independent truckers.
P-R Photo/Bruce Rowland /


Diesel prices have been much higher than gasoline prices, a situation that makes the situation even more difficult for truckers.
P-R Photo/Bruce Rowland /



P-R Photo/Bruce Rowland /

Published August 23, 2008 09:16 pm - High diesel prices have hit independent truckers especially hard, with some not able to survive.

Truckers in for long haul


By KEVIN COUTURE
Contributing Writer

CHAMPLAIN -- Although diesel prices have pulled back a little recently, the high cost of fuel has forced some independent truckers out of business, and many feel that -- while attention is drawn to other sectors such as airlines -- no one is paying attention to their plight.

"It's making people go hungry and it's going to get worse this winter," said trucker Judson Thomas of New Hampshire, an independent contractor with Daily Express of Carlisle, Pa., which covers 48 states and a couple provinces of Canada. "A lot of truck drivers are losing their houses, their rigs and everything."

The U.S. economy depends more heavily on trucks than most people realize, he said, as he stopped for a fill-up at the Peterbilt Fuel Mart in Champlain. And, if things continue the way they are, there could be a crisis on the way. "Without trucks, America stops," he said.

Justin Harvey, owner of Chazy's Just-N-Time, said that in 1993 he was paying 77 cents a gallon for diesel fuel. Today, with 16 trucks and 28 trailers, Harvey finds himself going to the bank daily for $7,000 to $8,000, and that's just for fuel.

Champlain Peterbuilt Fuel Mart Manager Bill Hampton echoed Harvey's sentiments. "It's killing the trucker, and everything has to go up," he said. "This is a terrible mess that we are in."

Hampton, whose truck stop connects the United States and Canadian border, saw changes coming before they happened, and it's been downhill from there.

For example, a year ago, Peterbilt began to sell a lower-sulfur diesel, which burns burns more efficiently and omits fewer toxins into the atmosphere.

But that came with a cost.

Thomas said that, because of the process it takes to refine it, it pushed the price higher.

"In a nutshell, it stinks," he said. "We are kind of being held over the fire. We have no choice in the matter."

Truckers are searching for reasons as to why last August diesel averaged two more cents than gasoline, then by October it was 50 cents more, and that was just the beginning.

Executive director Allen Schaeffer of the Diesel Technology Forum offered some reasons why diesel has been especially hard-hit.

Oil refineries and shipments were delayed by the big Gulf of Mexico hurricanes, he said, and when the refineries were operational again, their concentration was on the commodity most in demand, gasoline.

Schaeffer also said that over the winter, with an increase for the need for heating fuel, there is greater competition for crude, and diesel gets squeezed again.

He pointed out that in some European countries, more than half of the cars now operate on diesel fuel, adding to the skyrocketing cost.

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