Local transport businesses, residents feel impact as diesel prices hit record highs

Local gas stations are seeing record high diesel prices, which are not only having an impact on people filling up and businesses like shipping and trucking companies, but some say the cost will be passed down to consumers as well.

Diesel is the main fuel source for trucks, which transport everything from food, to lumber, to household goods — meaning that in the end, consumers will end up paying more for everyday items.

“I have never seen them this high before, it’s ridiculous,” said Sandy Higgins, the operations manager at Lodestar Logistics in Burlington. “It’s gone up probably 80 cents a litre in the last month or so.”

Lodestar Logistics is a small trucking company that ships goods across Ontario and upstate New York — for items like packaging, paper and flooring — and Higgins says the rising price of diesel is costing the business more.

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“So we have to — we tried not to — but we do have to put out a fuel surcharge now, and we put that out to our customers, and then they have to put it on to their consumers, unfortunately,” said Higgins.

Tyron Varga is also feeling the pain when he fills up his motor home, which he says costs $250 — more than $100 he says it used to cost before.

“Oh, it’s impacted me quite a bit,” said Varga. “We go away on holidays and shot through the roof, it’s doubled my expenses on holidays.”

“Nothing moves in this country or around the world without diesel, and the fact that we tax it so heavily is starting to have a real impact on the bottom line, not just of those who are involved in transportation, but ultimately consumers,” said Dan McTague with Canadians for Affordable Energy. “The impact is now, and you’re seeing it at the grocery checkout, but you’re seeing a lot of companies now either choosing not to transport, giving up on their contracts, or saying, ‘listen, we’re going to pass on what amounts to fuel surcharges’.”

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Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre announced what he is calling a diesel price relief action plan.

“Here’s the plan: eliminate all taxes on diesel sales, at least until Canada Day and maybe longer — this includes the GST; extending the excise tax holiday and permanently getting rid of the Clean Fuel Standard, which adds about 7 cents a litre, to the price of fuel already,” said Poilievre.

When CHCH News reached out to the federal government, they said in a statement in part, “the government is in continuous contact with refiners who are maximizing their diesel production capacity to meet circumstances – and currently produce approximately the exact amount of diesel we consume, which affords us domestic market security.”

The statement further reads, “we are currently a net exporter of diesel, meaning any additional production goes towards servicing export markets.”

McTague says the price of diesel isn’t expected to come down any time soon, but he’s expecting a jump of 3 cents on Wednesday.

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