HERMON, Maine—Truckers are having to contend with something they've never seen before: $4-a-gallon diesel fuel.
In Maine, diesel prices rose to $4 per gallon this week, further putting the squeeze on those who drive diesel-fueled trucks for a living.
And the prices were rising fast. Diesel was selling for $4.03 a gallon at Dysart's Truck Stop on Thursday afternoon, and had risen to $4.15 a gallon by Thursday night.
"I'm worried. I'm worried about my livelihood," said Charlie Gaspers, 45, a long-haul independent driver from Minnesota who was driving to Rockland to deliver a load of flowers, fruit trees and shrubs.
The federal Energy Information Administration blames the price spike on the rapid rise in the price of crude oil, high demand for oil during the winter months and rising demand worldwide for diesel fuel.
"Each dollar increase in the price of crude oil increases the price of gasoline and diesel by about 2.4 cents per gallon," said Tancred Lidderdale, a senior economist with the EIA.
At Dysart's, a popular truck stop near Bangor, a lunchtime crowd of truckers on Thursday offered a variety of comments on rising fuel prices. Almost everyone said they are seeing their profits shrink.
Many truckers have raised their mileage rates to compensate for more expensive diesel, said Barry Hollis, 46, an owner-operator from Sanford. Hollis hauls ocean kayaks, raisins and pharmaceutical additives, and said his surcharges are being passed directly to the consumer.
"How long can this economy, the American consumer and the American family afford to pay these rates?" Hollis asked.
Some independent truckers are staying off the road in hopes that diesel prices will drop, but Gaspers said he'll probably end up working about 320 days this year. He has to support a wife and five children, two of whom are in college.
"You just have to stay busy all the time," he said.
The average nationwide price for diesel fuel rose to $3.94 a gallon on Friday, which was up 3 cents from Thursday and $1.20 from a year ago, according to AAA, which tracks prices nationwide using data from the Oil Price Information Service.
In Maine, diesel hit $4.02 gallon on Friday, making Maine one of 14 states where diesel now costs more than $4 a gallon on average.
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Information from: Bangor Daily News, http://www.bangornews.com
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