![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/b67997aa-3fe3-4fd9-82aa-36721e1bc39c.jpg.webp\")
Jasmine SandharBBC Newsbeat, reporting from West Midlands<\/p>\n
Drivers say surging cost of diesel ‘taking its toll’published at 14:04 BST<\/p>\n
14:04 BST<\/p>\n
Jasmine Sandhar
BBC Newsbeat, reporting from West Midlands<\/p>\n
![\"Patrick](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/3d72cdd3-36af-4621-9369-f99c5d2497e3.jpg.webp\")
Image caption, <\/p>\n
Patrick Thompson says prices seem to just keeping going “up and up”<\/p>\n
“Since I’ve started driving the price keeps going up
\nand up and up,\u201d Patrick Thompson tells me as he stops to fill up at a petrol
\nstation in the West Midlands: \u201cIt’s taking a toll.\u201d<\/p>\n
The 25-year-old uses his van every week to carry building
\nmaterials and workmates to jobs.<\/p>\n
But diesel prices are so high that Eddie Rowe, who also
\nworks in the building trade, says he’s recently had to start using an estate
\ncar to keep costs down.<\/p>\n
“It’s obviously better” on fuel than a truck, the
\n24-year-old from Cannock says, “but it’s more awkward” for
\ntransporting materials.<\/p>\n
Dave Smith, 55, from Brownhills, runs a business
\ntransporting ponies and estimates he drives about 20,000 miles a year for work.<\/p>\n
“We seem to be living at the fuel pump now,” he
\nsays, adding that he spends more on diesel than on food for the ponies at the moment.<\/p>\n
“It’s our biggest expenditure… You’re trying to earn but you’re paying more out than
\nwhat you’re earning.”<\/p>\n
![\"Dave](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/5457b9af-bd59-48f4-b20e-c74cb6b15012.jpg.webp\")
Image caption, <\/p>\n
Dave Smith says he’s now paying more on diesel than than on food for the ponies he transports<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Drivers say surging cost of diesel ‘taking its toll’published at 14:04 BST 14:04 BST Jasmine SandharBBC Newsbeat, reporting…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":634433,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[114,184,85,46],"class_list":["post-634432","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-economy","tag-business","tag-economy","tag-il","tag-israel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/634432","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=634432"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/634432\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/634433"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=634432"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=634432"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=634432"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}