WASHINGTON CITY, Utah — Even as we regular drivers deal with sticker shock at the pump, those who drive city and commercial vehicles are dealing with double the problem.
What a difference a week makes as gas and diesel prices in Washington City and across Utah have jumped by more than 50 cents a gallon in most places.
Truckers and commercial drivers are not getting any break from fuel prices, with diesel costs jumping nearly twice as much as unleaded. That’s a vital fuel for those who transport and deliver goods.
Rising fuel costs are also a hit to contractors and construction, easily the top industry in the St. George area.
Lauren Fletcher, editor of the trade publication Automotive Fleet, said that even a nickel increase adds up fast when you’re fueling a fleet of dozens or hundreds of vehicles every day. She says at the current rate, a company or city driving a 50-vehicle fleet is seeing fuel costs rise by about $500 a day.
A spokesman for the City of St. George shared how officials have budgeted for potential increases in gas prices, but don’t know if that applies to a prolonged increase.
Utah drivers rethink budgets as gas prices jump:
For Redian Celaj, who’s driven buses for the last nine years, it’s already adding up.
"I'm not going to say lost revenue, but it's tight. In my experience, this is the biggest jump that I've seen," said Celaj.
Those who have driven big rigs for a long period of time say they have seen it before. Burke Hafen has been behind the wheel for three decades and claimed that the current situation is still not as bad as 2008-09, when the Iraq War affected fuel prices.
"It happens every time there's a disturbance somewhere in the world," Hafen shared.
According to Fletcher, truckers and commercial drivers do have remedies, including reducing idling and better eco-driving habits such as maintaining a steady speed and avoiding aggressive accelerations.
