Pennsylvania trucker Lamar Buckwalter said a week of round-trip hauling now costs him far more in diesel, while his freight rates remain near the level his father received in the 1990s.
Diesel averaged about $6.56 a gallon across Pennsylvania. Buckwalter said he checks fuel prices through phone apps and changes his route to reach lower-priced pumps. He called fuel prices “ridiculously expensive.”
He said most costs of running his operation have increased, but freight payments are still close to what his father earned in the 1990s. Buckwalter said higher store prices have not led to better compensation for truckers. He said the burden of fuel prices reaches beyond people who haul freight.
