DUNMORE, LACKAWANNA CO. (WOLF) \u2014 For the last 38 years, Road Scholar Transport in Dunmore has been through a lot.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a very volatile industry, though,” said Road Scholar Transport vice president Kellie Barrett McMullen. “There\u2019s constant changes and regulations and protocols that you have to make sure that you\u2019re following, and you never know what\u2019s coming next.\u201d<\/p>\n
The family-owned trucking operation oversees a fleet of over 100 trucks delivering all types of goods across the east coast and mid-west. In an average year, they deliver over 520 million items over the range of around 9 million miles.<\/p>\n
The family\u2019s biggest headache isn\u2019t the logistics of the operation however; it\u2019s the price of diesel.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s increased significantly over the past year and a half,” continued Barrett McMullen. “I think we\u2019re up about $2 more per gallon than we were a couple years ago. So, it has impacted the cost of doing business substantially.\u201d<\/p>\n
To experts, the cause is simple: the war in Iran and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz.<\/p>\n
\u201cOnce the war in Iran was initiated and we saw gas top $4, and now it\u2019s at $4.23 nationally on average today,” explained Breyon Williams, the chief economist at Groundwork Collaborative. “Diesel is at a record. So we\u2019ve never had these level prices for diesel. Diesel right now is above $6 per gallon.\u201d<\/p>\n