The news that state gas prices broke records on Thursday may
have sounded like a broken record to motorists. But some local
trucking companies have had enough of the rising cost of diesel
– which stands at $3 per gallon here – and they’re doing
something about it.
By Lori Stuenkel
Gilroy – The news that state gas prices broke records on Thursday may have sounded like a broken record to motorists. But some local trucking companies have had enough of the rising cost of diesel – which stands at $3 per gallon here – and they’re doing something about it.
“We’re asking for Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to either declare a state of emergency or issue an executive order to lift the ban for the time being (on) importing oil from other states,” said Tony Luiz, owner of T&L Trucking near Watsonville.
California’s diesel, like its gasoline, is a cleaner-burning fuel than that used in other states. With a limited supply that was further tightened last month by a fire at a Chevron refinery in El Segundo, Luiz said he wants truckers and farmers here to get the needed fuel, and at fair prices. Trucking companies are already charging customers more, though, with a gallon of diesel costing 28 cents more than it did last week and 83 cents more than a year ago, according to the Energy Information Administration.
Luiz has organized a press conference for 11am today at Condil Commercial Cardlock, 6478 Chestnut St., to announce the proposal. Invited are local, state and federal representatives, the California Trucking Association, the California Dumptruck Association, and Schwarzenegger – though he won’t be able to attend, Luiz said.
While the price of diesel climbs, a gallon of regular unleaded gasoline reached an all-time high of $2.70 in California Thursday, the third record-setting day in a row. In San Jose, the cost to drivers was one cent below the state average, according to a AAA survey. An unofficial survey of stations around Gilroy indicated drivers here are also paying about $2.69 a gallon, which is 14 cents more than last month and 23 percent above last year’s price.
Mayra Perez was taking the added cost in stride at the Beacon gas station on Leavesley Road near Forest Street.
“It doesn’t really bother me,” she said as she filled up her Honda CR-V, for $2.65 a gallon.
Perez, who lives in Gilroy, said she and her husband only drive around town, so she rarely needs to buy gas more than once a week for her small sport utility vehicle that gets 22 miles per gallon in the city. Besides, she said, she figures it’s inevitable that gas will continue to get more expensive.
Some of the cheapest gas in the city could be found in a shopping center off Pacheco Pass Highway. At Costco and a nearby Chevron that recently opened, regular unleaded was $2.59 a gallon. Drivers were shelling out 18 cents more not far away at a Chevron on Monterey Road, south of Luchessa Avenue.
AAA reports it is possible retail gasoline prices will continue to increase over the next few days because average wholesale gasoline prices are rising.
Part of the reason for this week’s steeper gas and diesel prices is the skyrocketing cost of crude oil, which was trading at record highs near $66 a barrel, said Sean Comey, spokesman for AAA of Northern California, adding that the price of crude oil has nearly tripled in the last three years. Other contributing factors include energy traders’ concerns about supply disruptions, increased demand as farmers plant and pick crops, and problems at refineries, including the Chevron refinery fire.
As the cost of diesel continues to rise, so does the cost of trucking, busing schoolchildren, plowing fields, and even making cement. Eventually, Luiz said, that cost will be transferred to countless other products.
“Gasoline is important, but there’s ways of being able to get around that,” he said, such as making fewer trips or carpooling. “But when it comes down to diesel, everything gets transported by at least one form of diesel, let it be railroad, which uses diesel, ships … trucks … tractors that work the fields, pumps in the farmer’s wells, which use diesel. When the diesel prices go this high, everybody’s going to feel it.”
T&L Trucking has seven employees, Luiz said. Sixteen months ago, the company was charging customers such as farmers and construction companies $68 an hour but now charges $85, he said.
The president of G&L Supply in Morgan Hill said she expects to see some trucking companies charging $90 per hour next month.
“That’s going to price some of us right out of business,” Lindamar Morehouse said. “As a broker, I can’t pass that on to my customers. There’s going to be so many people running at so many different rates, we have no consistency.”
Morehouse did not want to voice her opinion on Luiz’s suggestion of bringing in out-of-state diesel, but said she is concerned that refineries in California are making fuel for other states instead of easing the tight supply here.
“Everybody just keeps trying to pass the cost along, but how long can we do this?” she said.
For up-to-date gas and diesel price averages, visit www.aaa.com/gasprices.
