Trucker fuels up for $1,000; $5-a-gallon gas
Independent trucker Lee Klass pulled out of a gas station Friday morning with 240 gallons of diesel — and a bill close to $1,000. Klass, who's driven long-haul trucks since the 1970s, said diesel is his No. 1 expense: He has been raising his rates for loads hauled almost daily to combat rising diesel prices. Klass said if you think you're not paying for my fuel just check your grocery bill.
"The price of gasoline may go up as high as $5 a gallon by this summer — is the administration currently making contingency plans?" Rep. Eni Faleomavaega, D-American Samoa, asked Interior Secretary Ken Salazar during a hearing Thursday of the House Natural Resources Committee who responded with a shrug. "I certainly think more production is part of the answer," Rep. Doc Hastings, R-Pasco, the committee's chairman, told Salazar. But increased production in the U.S. wouldn't have a measurable impact on oil prices that are set on international markets and influenced by countries with higher output, Salazar said.
Klass said many drivers weren't able to sustain themselves when fuel prices spiked back in 2008, peaking at $4.39 per gallon. "Last time around, a lot of people went broke." "Gas prices going to $5 or $6 a gallon are going to really stop this recovery and maybe throw us back into recession," Rep. John Duncan, R-Tenn., said during the House hearing.
|
