Truckers Barely Hanging On
JACKSONVILLE, FL — In twenty years of trucking, Jerome Gibson has never seen these diesel prices.
At $3.99 a gallon, Gibson says he’s barely hanging on.
As an independent truck driver, he owns his own rig and pays for his own gas and maintenance.
“If something happens to my truck right now, I can’t afford to get it fixed!” said Gibson.
Regular drivers may not think Gibson’s gas prices matter, but they depend on it because as Gibson’s price climbs, the cargo he carries gets more expensive.
While many people may not think about how merchandise reaches its destination, independent trucker Clarence Spanier does.
In recent weeks, his weekly income has been cut in half.
“I was spending about 700 bucks in fuel when I first started so I went from spending $700 to $2500 dollars a week,” said Spanier.
Many truckers are paid by the mile, but many companies aren’t raising their pay-per-mile so the rising gas costs eat right through a trucker’s pocket.
Spanier said, “If it keeps going up and up, I’ll just have to sell the truck.”
That REALLY sucks. The companies receiving the freight are probably being charged a fuel surcharge which they are passing on to their customers. The people getting screwed are the independent truckers (as per usual).
