High gas prices hitting RV transport industry

by Ed Ernstes (ernstes@wsbt.com)

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Hoosier RV Transport in Bristol and its independent drivers are being hit hard by high diesel gas prices

Hoosier RV Transport in Bristol and its independent drivers are being hit hard by high diesel gas prices. (WSBT photo)

By Beth Boehne

Story Created: Mar 13, 2008 at 3:37 PM EST

Story Updated: Mar 21, 2008 at 10:55 AM EST

BRISTOL — Prices at the pump are still skyrocketing around the country. Diesel fuel is nearing $4 a gallon, and that's creating big problems for people who make their living using diesel.

“It’s really affecting our industry with fuel prices, but especially our owner-operators,” said Sami Colby.

Colby owns Hoosier RV Transport in Bristol. In her 14 years there, she has never seen diesel costs so high, and those rising costs are lowering her profits.

"We lease on approximately 150 to 200 independent owner-operators and we're at single digits as far as the money that we have to make our bills,” she said. “There's almost no profit margin in this anymore.”

The company has to work with the rates set by the RV dealers and manufacturers networks to figure how much they'll pay their drivers to deliver those RVs.

For drivers out on the road it’s becoming somewhat of a juggling act to keep their costs down, pay their bills and still turn a profit at the same time.

"It’s costing right around half of their pay to go out and come back,” said Harley Vollrath, a dispatcher and former driver. “That's not even paying their overhead, their truck payments, their insurance and so forth.”

"Obviously you have to cut back and then you know, the cost of maintaining the truck, those costs are also rising, and it just never ends,” said transport driver Clyde Harshman.

“I would have liked to buy a new truck within the last year or two,” said transport driver Steven King. “I can't do that because I can't afford the payments plus all the other expenses. So I'm just making my old truck keep doing the job."

Late Thursday morning one of the drivers for Hoosier RV Transport reported diesel selling for $7.11 a gallon on the Toll Road in eastern Ohio.

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