Missouri truckers feel diesel price surge as holiday shipping season approaches
COLUMBIA, Mo.(KMIZ)
Missouri diesel prices stayed at near-record high levels Friday, raising costs for trucking companies and independent drivers as the holiday shipping season approaches.
AAA listed Missouri’s average diesel price at $6.31 a gallon Friday, up from $3.41 a year ago. The national average was $6.50, up from $3.69 a year ago. Both averages are just below records set Sept. 22.
“Fuel is probably one of the top, if not the top, expenses that a trucking company has,” said Tom Crawford, president of the Missouri Trucking Association. “It’s generally number two. But when it gets this high, sometimes it dives into being number one.”
Crawford said the association has heard about longtime carriers shutting down, including one Mid-Missouri company that had been in business for decades.
“We heard like two weeks ago on Thursday that they were shutting down Friday,” Crawford said. “And you’re like, whoa, okay...I know there’s a lot of them across the country.”
Crawford said he couldn’t say how many companies had closed or whether diesel costs were the reason in each case. Dustin Kallmeyer, chief operating officer of Hermann-based Kallmeyer Bros. Enterprises, Inc., said he didn’t know of companies in his area that had shut down specifically because of fuel costs. He said trucking companies were also dealing with a freight slowdown.
Kallmeyer said higher fuel costs are forcing companies to pay closer attention to what they charge for loads. He has also seen shipping prices start to rise.
“I’ve seen some things come out there. They’re already starting to increase pricing, you know, 4 or 5%, 6% for some of their stuff,” Kallmeyer said.
For independent owner-operator Matthew Purvis, diesel prices affect both his rates and his plans for the coming months.
“Diesel prices definitely affect what I charge and what I plan,” Purvis said. “I’m going to definitely have to work harder throughout the Christmas season to accomplish the end-of-the-year quarter, for sure.”
Rising transportation costs can also reach consumers. In an analysis, RSM Chief Economist Joe Brusuelas wrote that higher fuel and transportation costs can put pressure on food prices as those expenses move through the supply chain.
Crawford said some retailers are trying to get ahead of potential holiday cost increases by stocking shelves earlier.
“I think what you’re seeing with the earlier stocking of the shelves and things is an effort to try to get in front of that a little bit so you can maintain some pricing,” Crawford said.
