ERIE, Pa. (Erie News Now) – As fuel prices soar, Tim Barnhart of Barnhart Transportation in North East is feeling the pinch.
Diesel prices are up 20 cents a gallon in just the last month, and they’ve risen a dollar a gallon in just the last year.
“Right now we currently buy about 200,000 gallons a month, so right now our fuel costs are up about $200,000 a month from this time last year,” he said.
That jump is passed along to businesses who eventually pass it to consumers, meaning rising fuel costs hit you at the gas pump and at every other store.
“As fuel prices go up, the cost for everything that gets distributed to any of your retail stores, your grocery stores, anything like that, all those prices are being passed down through the supply chain,” Barnhart said.
But the problem isn’t only American.
Barnhart says as the standoff in Ukraine continues, prices are likely to keep rising.
Militaries take fuel from the supply chain, and a standoff with Russia throws the global market out of sync.
“Any time you have uncertainty and it has to do with fuel, it automatically triggers higher prices and costs across-the-board for gas and diesel,” he said.
As to when Americans might see relief at the pump and at the store, Barnhart says he’s not sure, but he doesn’t expect it happen anytime soon.
“We haven’t even hit peak construction season, and that’s when transportation really start picking up,” he said. “This is supposed to be relatively our slow time of the year, and it’s not.”
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