7am News, Sports and Obits

Latest WGIL news
Click to play or
Right click and "Save Target As" to download
Click for Galesburg, Illinois Forecast
Home - Cancellations - Community Events - Contact Us - Mornings - News - Obituaries - Pictures - Programs - Special Events Audio - Sports - Weather
Truck Drivers Happy With Falling Diesel Prices
The low cost of fuel isn't just benefiting the drivers of standard vehicles.

The reduced price of diesel fuel is a big relief for truckers. According to the Fuel Gauge Report, diesel fuel in Illinois is selling for an average of $2.59 - not as cheap as gasoline, but a significant drop from the $3.50 a gallon price last year at this time or the record high of $4.86 in July.

Don Schaefer, executive director of the Midwest Truckers Association, says during the summer truckers faced the hardship of not being able to afford the $1,000 it took to fill up their tanks. Schaefer says a new fuel surcharge insulates truck drivers against wild price fluctuations.

"Because the price of fuel fluctuates on a weekly basis, the industry is able to implement a surcharge which either goes up or goes down depending on the fuel price.

Schafer says truckers often lacked the cash or credit to fill up, a dilemma he says really hurt the trucking industry, especially in the summer and the fall.

Schafer says truckers now typically have a fuel surcharge in their contracts, insulating them from fuel price fluctuations, since they quote prices for jobs that may be months away, not knowing what fuel costs will be at that time.
12 31 08 by Newsroom
News management powered by Xpression News

Click here for the WGIL News Archive

Click here for national news

The following provision applies to all visitors (which shall include persons and representatives of legal entities, whether such representatives are persons or digital engines of a kind that crawls, indexes, scrapes, copies, stores or transmits digital content). By accessing this Web site or digital service, you specifically acknowledge and agree that: (i) Associated Press text, photo, graphic, audio and/or video material shall not be published, broadcast, rewritten for broadcast or publication or redistributed directly or indirectly in any medium; (ii) No Associated Press materials nor any portion thereof may be stored in a computer except for personal and non-commercial use; (iii) The Associated Press will not be held liable for any delays, inaccuracies, errors or omissions therefrom or in the transmission or delivery of all or any part thereof or for any damages arising from any of the foregoing; (iv) The Associated Press is an intended third party beneficiary of these terms and conditions and it may exercise all rights and remedies available to it; and (v) The Associated Press reserves the right to audit possible unauthorized commercial use of AP materials or any portion thereof at any time.