A word about trucking and consumers.

[Droopy]

I recently saw diesel fuel for $4.09 a gallon here in Ohio.

I used to own my own rig up until the year 2000 when fuel prices spiked dramatically. I held out for six months expecting the company to which I was leased to start charging a fuel surcharge as a part of their freight rates. It didn't happen soon enough for me and I ended up selling my rig and took a job as a company driver.

There is no way that trucking companies can survive for any length of time in times of high fuel prices without increasing rates. Well, fortunately for the trucking industry and owner operators, companies have started charging fuel surcharges. Unfortunately for you that means increased prices for the stuff you buy every day. Because those companies that need to ship freight do not absorb those increased freight rates. They pass it along to you, the consumer, through higher prices for their goods. And it's not just some things that you can avoid, it's everything. Almost everything in this country is shipped at some point in time- be it by plane, train, ship, or truck. And that process burns up a lot of fuel.

[Ikonoklast]

1. We won't move for less than $3.00 a mile, all loaded miles

Or, if you prefer, $1.00 a mile for all deadhead, and $2.50 for all loaded miles. Whatever way is best for the shipper. My break-even is $1.78 a mile, so the days of buck-a-mile freight are history.

Right now, I am getting calls from brokers, asking about availability of my truck....almost unheard of with freight so slow, and trucks plentiful.

Or so the brokers say.
The freight posting boards tell me different.

Lots of guys must be getting run out of business, due to spiraling fuel costs.

We lost the two runs we had for three years, due to the shipper trying to cut costs. Only problem is, we're hearing the freight isn't getting there on time, carriers calling the broker needing deliveries re-scheduled, drivers arguing about unload time at the receiver, etc.

Makes us look good. We had one late load in three years. One.

So, here I sit, watching the freight boards, posting on DU, and waiting for another carrier to fall off a load and I'll recover it for them at the last minute, for MY rate.

[Droopy]

10. That's what you have to do

In 1999 I was running freight for about $1 a mile and I was doing very good. I'd managed to pay off about $40,000 in debt in the 2 years that I had my truck. Of course it helped that I didn't have any housing costs. I remember getting fuel in Georgia for 88 cents a gallon in 1999. We'll never see that again.

[Aristus]

2. How much would trucking companys save by switching to biodiesel?

You know, McDonald's and KFC's left-over fry-vat stuff. They could probably take it off the hands of the fast-food industry pretty cheaply.

[DarkTirade]

3. I'd wager they'd still have to pay fuel taxes on it

which would raise the prices a bit.

[lildreamer316]

4. The companies will probably use the cost of conversion as a sticking point..

not that it costs that much per truck to convert, but I can see them being idiots this way..it's a typical management technique when they don't want to do the work.
I hope I'm wrong, though.

[Aristus]

6. You can get a diesel conversion kit for around $200. It's just a pan that

keeps the oil warm so it doesn't solidify. How much does it cost to fill up those huge diesel cannisters I see on freight rigs? If it's around $200 just for a fill-up, I'd say a conversion kit is money well spent. And as for fuel taxes: right now, bio-diesel derived from cooking oil is selling in Washington State for around $1.80 a gallon. Is a savings of $2.24 per gallon of fuel too low to justify the fuel tax on bio-diesel?

[lildreamer316]

16. You're right, and I hope they seize on this idea..

I'm just a bit pessimistic that they won't.

[trof]

5. The burger chains used to pay for disposal.

Met a guy on a flight once and that's what his business was.
He'd charge McDonald's, etc.so much a gallon for just to haul it off.
Then sell it to biofuel refiners.
What a deal!
Wonder if it still works that way?

[Droopy]

7. I've heard biodiesel is not as efficient as regular diesel

But I'm not sure of that. There is a little fuel stop that I pass on my route every night that sells biodiesel. It actually costs a little more per gallon there than regular diesel.

[Aristus]

9. A drop in fuel-efficiency is a small price to pay for utilizing a renewable fuel resource,

especially one that pollutes so much less than petroleum diesel.

[Droopy]

11. That might be true

Now all you have to do is get the trucking industry on board. It won't happen until they are forced to.

[Aristus]

13. The higher cost could be a reflection of local supply. The same is true with

petroleum fuels. But the disparity could be mitigated slightly if we had a comprehensive bio-fuels infrastructure. Something else we could be doing with a fraction of the $$$ we're pissing away in Iraq.

[Droopy]

14. There are other problems with biofuel as well

Biofuels show promise, but also present problems
Less than a week after a UN report touted them as part of a global warming solution, another has raised alarms about their viability.

By Gregory M. Lamb | Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor
from the May 10, 2007 edition

Biofuels made from corn, palm oil, and sugar cane are being counted on to replace a significant share of the fossil fuels scientists say are heating up Earth's atmosphere.

But less than a week after biofuels were touted as part of the solution to global warming in the third of three highly anticipated UN-sponsored reports on climate change (PDF), another UN report has raised alarms about their viability.

The idea of making fuel from crops is appealing, since much of the world lacks reserves of oil or other fossil fuels, said UN-Energy chairman Mats Karlsson at a May 8 press conference in New York, as reported by the Associated Press. But, he said, there may be negative effects from the use of biofuels as well.

Among those downsides: Large tracts of fuel crops could take land away from food production and raise food prices. They could also do environmental damage and even release CO2 that would offset the climate advantages of burning biofuels. Said Greenpeace biofuels expert Jan van Aken:

"More and more, people are realizing that there are serious environmental and serious food security issues involved in biofuels. There is more to the environment than climate change. Climate change is the most pressing issue, but you cannot fight climate change by large deforestation in Indonesia."

Biofuels can have a future, but they must be grown with a sustainable environment in mind, said the British advocacy group Biofuels Watch in a press release. Looking to the future, the group worries that genetically modified crops, developed to maximize their fuel potential, might be put into the field without proper testing or safeguards. Said spokesperson Almuth Ernsting:

"It is already clear that the burgeoning demand for biofuels that has been created to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions is actually increasing them by deforestation in the tropics and accelerating climate change. So far, only 1 percent of global transport fuel comes from biofuels, yet already biofuels cause steep rises in grain and vegetable oil prices, threatening the food security of poor people and spurring agricultural expansion into forests and grasslands, on which we depend for a stable climate."

More at the link http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0510/p17s01-wogi.html

[Ikonoklast]

12. The availability of raw materials is a problem

Not too long ago, you could work a deal with a restaurant to pick up the used veg oil for free, as they paid to have it hauled away. Now, the refiners pay the chains a nominal amount. Harder to find free fuel-stock, but it is still there if you ask around.

I looked into buying a converter, but it was problematic having an operation in my garage trying to produce enough to make it economically viable; as with anything else, the more you can produce, the cheaper it gets. But, then you are spending lots of time collecting used oil from the users, transport costs, etc., and the time involved making and storing the biodiesel product.

I solved that problem by finding a local petro products distributor that sells B99 in 55 gallon drums; they get the dollar a gallon federal blending credit for mixing petro diesel with biodiesel. Not too far down the road from me, and I can carry home two barrels at a time. Cost is comparable to petro diesel, however.

I love the product. Tractor runs cooler, quieter, cleaner, and the cetane value of the biodiesel is usually between 47-52 cetane, whereas pump petro diesel is 42 cetane.

Right now, the cost is comparable to petro diesel as the rise in biodiesel feedstocks has increased dramatically. The cost of soybeans, a primary biodiesel feedstock in these parts, has doubled in the past year.

Ohio is really trying to catch up. We are close to mandating B5 for all state vehicles, and school buses, thanks to Gov. Strickland. But we need a reliable source, as the producers just cannot meet demand. More plants are scheduled to come on line, but the huge run-up in commodity prices has put a damper on some of those plans.

[trof]

8. Local restaurants encouraging local growers.

Just for that reason local restaurants (maybe grocers too?) are encouraging local farmers to devote more acreage to edible row crop produce.

Same with cattle (beef) ranchers.
Costs too much to truck it in from all over.

And a friend just shut down his contracting/remodeling business because there's no work here. Went back to truck driving, but not his own rig either.

[underpants]

15. Droopy-anecdotal I know but CNN had 4 truckers on about 3 weeks ago

One said that yes he was getting a surcharge but that is the only way he was making any money at all. One said that he was going to pay off his truck and get out.

you might find this interesting.

My thread on it.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=389&topic_id=2930255

[northzax]

17. as you said, almost everything spends time on a truck

which means that freight prices will adjust to allow the most effiient operators at least to continue to profit. Older trucks, inefficent routings and just generally anything that uses excess fuel will fail. If you can squeeze another half an mpg out of a truck', you have a decent competitive advantage. Get a full mpg, and you will pick and choose your loads, until someone else catches up, at least. until then, if you have an older truck, or one that drinks more fuel, it's gonna suck, I'm sorry

[hippywife]

18. There is something that can be done about it.

And luckily the season for it is at hand. People need to eat at locally as possible and that means as in season as possible. Farm markets will be flush with great tasting local food very soon. :hi: