5 Questions to ask yourself: WHO, WHERE, WHEN, WHAT AND HOW does higher fuel prices affect?

WHO? Fuel prices affect everyone.  From the retired senior citizen to the business owner trying to make ends meet.  From the wife of an owner/operator’s standpoint, higher fuel prices are very devastating for the bottom line.  Small companies, like ours do not get to reap the advantages afforded to larger trucking companies.  Many larger companies receive fuel discounts due to the volume of fuel they buy daily, monthly & yearly.  This is something most small trucking companies never experience.  Restaurant owners pay higher food costs for their deliveries and are passing those expenses down to you at the table.  The rancher/farmer who pay for fuel to harvest the crops or to take their livestock to the market are passing those costs down to you at the grocery store or even if you've bought from them outright.  Seniors, like my parents, who are retired and wanting to travel can't do so because gas & fuel prices are too high to afford on a fixed income.  College students are struggling to juggle school and work enough to pay for basic needs like (gas or fuel), is an expense they just can't afford on top of everything else; tuition has gotten higher, meal plans are higher as well, just to name a couple.  WHERE? Fuel prices are skyrocketing everywhere.  It affects all walks of life; from the poor to the rich.  You can travel in any direction in the US and see that fuel prices are outrageous and seem to be getting worse.  As a semi owner, my husband has to make hard choices daily on when and where to stop for fuel. Playing the "what if it's cheaper somewhere else” game to determine how much further he dares to drive.  

WHEN does higher fuel prices affect us?  Right now.  Every single day, sometimes several times a day.  We began feeling the pinch when Covid hit; going from $2.43/gallon in Nov 2020 to now $4.21/gallon in March 2023 and these are national averages.  Some places are higher than this even. (Source: Statista.com) (online).  I'll give you a visual to help drive home this fact.  An average semi can carry 300 gallons of fuel (two tanks of 150 gallons each), we average 6 miles per gallon with our truck.  At those prices, we were spending roughly $600 every time a fuel stop was made.  Today, were spending roughly $1200 when a fuel stop is made.   HOW does higher fuel prices affect all of us?  Have you noticed grocery store prices have gone up? (eggs over $5 a dozen, milk is over $4 a gallon, toilet paper is over $5 a package for the cheap stuff; you know...sandpaper!) Restaurant bills are higher at the till, heating bills for your home & business (natural gas brought in via semi tanker, which in turn you pay for higher pricing).  Have you looked around your city?  Have you noticed more and more businesses have closed their doors?  Have you ever wondered why?  The cost of fuel prices aren't the single thing driving this phenomenon, but it definitely contributes to the bottom line.  This cycle feels never ending and very much like the old adage of "the chicken and the egg" debate.  

WHAT is at stake you might be asking?  Besides everything?  Continued higher prices not only at the pump, but the grocery stores, the local restaurants, your home, college, senior citizen homes, everywhere it will have a direct impact on our quality of life.  It has a direct impact on our mental health crisis as well.  If we're having to pay higher prices for everything, this means were unable to do the things we love and the things that make life enjoyable.  I for one would like to travel again more, I enjoy family gatherings and time at the lake.  None of this is possible if we can't afford to live.  Improved prices would impact our lives significantly.  We could do all the things we were able to do before this crisis happened, we could connect with our friends & family more often and reduce mental health issues.  The single parent household could go to work and not have to worry about their paycheck going directly to the cost of heating their homes or driving to work for the week.  There would be more discretionary income to use at the small local shops and to help local restaurants and other businesses stay open, in turn improving the economy.  The steadily climbing prices of everything over the last 2.5 years is exactly WHY we need to act now, instead of later.  As a business owner of a semi, it should be very obvious to you why this needs to change for us, but we're not the only ones affected by this.  It affects many facets of our lives.  So please, I ask you today.....sign the petition and forward it to all your friends & family members to sign as well.  Help us be the small voice for a big change today.