As fuel prices continue to escalate, Saskatchewan’s trucking companies are bearing the worst of the burden.
“The cost of fuel is not the only thing that’s hurting them. Over the last year we’ve seen increases in truck prices, tire prices, insurance costs, we cannot get impacts, so all of these things are impacting trucking today.”
These impacts are being felt by Saskatchewan’s small and medium-sized trucking companies—who, unlike larger companies, do not benefit from fuel surcharge programs. Without that protection, companies’ profitability can be easily hurt by the volatile market, as well as a rising carbon tax.
In Alberta, we have seen their government put a pause on their provincial fuel tax, and the Ontario government has done something similar. Something similar in Saskatchewan would be a timely relief for an industry in that moves our most essential resources.