JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — If one thought gas prices were high, the price of diesel fuel in some areas are nearly $5. That is enough to make Lamar Sanford grimace while he's checking budgets.
Sanford is a manager at Dixon Auto Transport. The company he works for transports new cars across the Southeastern region of the United States. Sometimes drivers will travel to San Antonio, Texas or Tulsa, Oklahoma.
"We're spending about $10,000 a day on fuel, and we only have a small fleet of 23 trucks," Sanford said. "It's our number one expense."
The price of diesel fuel fluctuates from city to city and state to state. That means Sanford has to keep an eye on where drivers are fueling. On top of that, he has to make sure the trucks are capable to commute hundreds of miles.
"Our trucks are holding cars so they're pushing a wall to air everywhere they go, and we're lucky to give five-and-a-half miles a gallon," Sanford said. "You have to understand, everything that any consumer touches was hauled by a truck, a train, a ship."
While Sanford is expecting higher diesel fuel prices, it won't stop his drivers from getting from one destination to the next. They are taking the financial impact so consumers get their product on time. The auto transport manager said "the show must go on."
"We'll adjust our rates according to fuel prices and keep doing what we do," Sanford said.