ORLANDO, Fla. — Rising diesel prices are taking a toll on businesses and consumers.
Truck drivers like Satnarine Singh said they are spending $400 to fill the tank of a small truck.
According to the motor club AAA, the national average for diesel prices climbed to a record of $6.05 on Friday. That is up from $5.85 last week and $3.70 this time last year.
Singh said because of the rapid price rise, the quote he gave his customer doesn’t match the ultimate price of the trip.
“For the past two weeks, prices keep going up and up on the diesel. We’re not going to survive that,” he said. “We have to deliver to our customer, and I have to make a price for our customer, quote a price, and now, when the diesel’s gone up this high, I’m losing. All the truckers are losing.”
Tom Fullerton, a professor of economics at the University of Texas El Paso who teaches econometric forecasting, said anything that gets transported is going to be more expensive.
“It’s probably most visible in grocery stores, but it also affects toy stores, clothing stores, anything where merchandise is being transported from one region of the country to another region of the country,” he said.
He attributed the rise in gas prices to the war in Iran.
“Diesel prices have increased by 60% since the 28th of February,” Fullerton said. “The 28th of February is when Iran was attacked by the United States and Israel, and it immediately disrupted oil production out of the Middle East.”
Margins are growing thinner for a lot of businesses because of the price of transporting goods, Fullerton said. As those margins shrink, companies are less likely to increase their payrolls and post jobs, he said.