Mar 11, 2008 8:42 pm US/Eastern
Diesel Fuel Costs Passed Along To Consumers
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) ―
The painful price of gas isn't the only thing hitting drivers at the pump. Diesel prices are also at record highs, and even if a consumer has never bought a gallon of diesel, they are still paying the price.
A fresh load of strawberries arrived today from Florida on the floor of Consumers Produce in the Strip District. The truck that brought them here is a bit more expensive to operate than last week.
"Eventually it's passed along to the retail consumer, whether it's in a supermarket or in a restaurant," Alan Siger said.
While diesel locally today jumped up to an eye popping $4.25 a gallon, it has been such a continual increase that the price paid for produce isn't jumping to new heights.
"It's like a steady drip, drip, drip. It's going higher and higher and higher," Siger said.
Compared year to year its more like a gulp, gulp, gulp to the Consumers Produce as they send their trucks throughout the region everyday.
"In 2005, we were paying about $2.15 a gallon for fuel. Last year at this time we were paying $2.87, now we're over $4 - that's almost a doubling fuel costs in three years," Siger said. "And when you spend close to a million dollars a year on fuel, that's very substantial."
And in the food supply chain, consumers are just one link in sustaining increased costs.
"Everything cost more money because of the increase in fuel, whether it's the farmer's fuel, the cost of fertilizers, the cost of transportation to our warehouse," Siger said.
And evenutally those costs get passed on to consumers.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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