Trucking Company President Sees No End in Sight for Fuel Prices

With the prices on regular and diesel fuel increasing on an almost daily basis, KGVO reached out to a local trucking company for a look ahead at what both truckers and consumers can expect to pay for fuel.

Geoff Spencer, President of Jones Brothers Trucking in Missoula, said his costs continue to rise every day.

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“Prices continue to go up around here,” began Spencer. “I mean things are $4.50 a gallon now, if not more, and when we go across the country it's kind of a different perspective, depending on where we're at. I mean, we’ve got trucks in northern California that are paying anywhere from $5 to $5.50 a gallon on diesel and we're just seeing continually fluctuating prices right now, kind of spot marketing most of what we do instead of contract based.”

Spencer said some customers hire Jones Brothers at a contracted rate, while others pay a fluctuating rate.

“Traditionally, you have a lot of contracts in place where you got a scheduled price for anywhere from a month to a year on anything,” he said. “Right now everything is kind of being adjusted on more of a daily basis. That's where I'm coming from on that spot market rate. We’re just looking at reevaluating everything on a daily basis rather than booking things out a month in advance, just because things are fluctuating so much out there right now.”

Spencer said Jones Brothers customers are understanding about the price increases they face.

“Customers understand that they're going to have to pay more to get things moved,” he said. “I know you're seeing that on grocery shelves, but we don't deal with that type of freight in particular. We're running lumber and steel and other materials to build this country, but you're seeing that price increase on everything right now and with the cost of housing and products all over the board, so you're seeing that on the on the shelves too, every day.”

Unfortunately, Spencer said he sees no end in sight to the price increases.

“I don't see anything changing from this trend in the next few months with the war over in Ukraine,” he said. “If we're going to shut off supply from Russia, which I don't disagree with, things are going to continue to go up over here and it's going to affect everybody's pocketbook. It's especially going to affect anybody that's in the transportation business and anybody that runs big rigs or any sort of vehicle for transportation will have to adjust with this and must be prepared to make decisions on the fly and adjust to everything as it comes.”

Diesel prices are highest in California, with the lowest in Missouri, according to Triple A.

In Great Falls, diesel is currently $4.79 a gallon.