Source: Radio New Zealand
Danniverke Carriers owner Nigel Castles expects further price rises for fuel are inevitable. 123rf
A rural transport company carting stock to the meat works couldn’t get the fuel it needed at two North Island commercial truck stops.
Pumps ran dry in Wairoa and Eltham on Thursday when the Stephenson Transport truck and trailer units from Central Hawke’s Bay were on a freezing works run.
Owner Bruce Stephenson said it’s a situation he’s never faced during his seven decades in the business.
“We had stock trucks on the road obviously all over the place. We couldn’t get fuel in Wairoa and we couldn’t get fuel in Eltham,” he said.
“They were loaded with stock heading to the works, so we had to stretch things out a bit – it gets a bit tricky when you’re doing that sort of thing.”
He fielded phone calls from his concerned drivers wondering what to do next.
“I’m talking about truck stops where we fuel up and where we get our contract prices from. That’s where access is relatively easy for a big truck and trailers with crates on.”
“So we had to go to service stations and find one we could get under the canopy of.”
Danniverke Carriers owner Nigel Castles is also coping with the swiftly evolving situation.
His company also carts stock around the country and he’s concerned about the massive spike in prices.
And his family-owned business can’t absorb the soaring fuel prices alone.
He’s reluctantly passing these increases on to farmers and estimates his fuel bill is up 20 percent from the start of the year.
The company filled its tanks last week, and he hopes the next delivery will arrive in a week.
With no signs of tensions easing in the Middle East, he expects further price rises for fuel are inevitable.
“The next lot of fuel supply is actually going to go up again,” he said.
“Definitely out on farm there’s a lot of worry, and as transporters we certainly don’t want to come to a grinding halt either.”
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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand
