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ndependent owner-operators, squeezed by soaring fuel prices, are less likely than fleets to purchase new trucks this year because of rising fuel prices, news reports said.
And the failure of many independent trucking companies can be tied directly to the rising cost of diesel fuel, American Trucking Association President Bill Graves told the Utah Trucking Association last week, the (Salt Lake City) Deseret Morning News reported.
Graves said that even if the industry were able to consolidate routes with rail lines and take some trucks off the road, that would do little to relieve highway congestion, the Morning News reported.
The trucking industry will spending about $94 billion on fuel this year, up $6.6 billion from last year and about twice the cost over three years ago, ATA said last month. (
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Meanwhile, Department of Transportation regulations do not allow drivers who carry freight from Canada into the United States to transport cargo within the U.S., putting a squeeze on independent cross-border truckers, the Northwest Indiana Times reported Sunday.
Before diesel’s recent near-record runups, independent carriers were able to bring a load into the United States and run back empty if no load was available, the Times said.
But with the high prices, that is no longer an option for many carriers, the Times reported.
