Reefer Firms Seek Strategies To Combat High Fuel Prices
Refrigerated carriers that cannot recoup fuel expenses through surcharges are suffering from high energy prices more than the rest of trucking as they must purchase diesel to both power their tractors and cool their trailers.
The same diesel that goes into the tanks of Class 8 tractors is also the stuff that provides refrigeration for food, pharmaceuticals and other commodities that must be transported in a chilled state. Cooling a trailer can add 10% or more to a company’s fuel bills, and when fuel prices are already high, it shaves the profit margins of reefer carriers that much more thinly — if there are any profits at all.
C.R. England is a large refrigerated carrier. Dan England said his company is having a tough time recovering expenses through a fuel surcharge, and that for small carriers it is even worse. “I’ve never seen such a state of desperation [among small reefer companies], and the biggest reason is fuel.”
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“It’s a desperate situation,” said Daniel E. England, chief executive officer of C.R. England Inc. “We’re in a tremendous cash crunch.”
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For the full story, see the Oct. 30 print edition of Transport Topics. Subscribe today.
