Even the huge increase in diesel fuel prices doesn’t translate to a 40%-80% increase in hauling rates.
The real culprit here isn’t diesel fuel costs. It’s the excessive regulation and ongoing supply chain disruptions that severely limit the number of miles a driver can cover over the course of a day. Federal regulations allow long-haul drivers to drive up to 11 hours per day. MIT released a report late last year that said long-haul drivers in the U.S. today only drive an average of 6.5 hours in a day.
The industry is pushing up per-mile shipping rates because they have to make up for all the inefficiencies that have been forced on them that limit the miles they can cover in a day.
Ummm, the situations you mention maybe a contributing factor for some, but the fuel costs count for even the short distance drivers. It leaves nothing to take home. I have family in thebusiness.