Truckers seek relief from high fuel prices BY EDWARD MUNGER JR. Gazette Reporter
A year ago, Gloversville truck driver Paul Looman spent about $850 a week on fuel. Today, he’s spending about $1,600 a week. Looman delivers refrigerated food, and he used to earn between $35,000 and $40,000 a year. Now, he’s making about $13,000. “That’s a hell of a drop in income,” Looman said Thursday. About two dozen truckers joined state legislators at the Superstop filling station and described how close many of them are to going out of business. Diesel fuel on the East Coast costs about $4.12 per gallon early this week — $1.26 more than it cost this time last year, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Diesel fuel prices hit $2 per gallon in 2005, then rose steadily ever since, according to the EIA. Looman said he wished truckers organized earlier to publicize their situation. He said he has already exhausted his savings. “We’ve used up our safety net, we’re at the point of desperation,” Looman said. The truckers gathered for a fo- rum coordinated by state Assemblymen Pete Lopez, R-Schoharie, and George Amedore, R-Rotterdam. Both legislators said they wanted to give these truckers a venue to be heard while they try to build coalitions in the state Legislature to approve laws that might help reduce the cost of trucking. There are more subtle signs of how dire the situation is, said trucker Bill Sutton of Batavia, who delivers building materials. Sutton claimed about 2,500 rigs are re-possessed each week because truckers can’t afford to pay for them. He urges people to take a look at the large truck garages that fi x tractor trailers. Many of the trucks sitting in those repair lots aren’t waiting to be fixed, Sutton said. Repairs have been made, he said, but truckers are unable to pay for the repairs. The bulk of truckers attending the rally Thursday represented independent owner-operators, smaller businesses that can’t buy massive amounts of fuel ahead of time. Independent truckers represent about 9 percent of the estimated 3.4 million truckers in the United States. Prior to the current fuel price spike, they earned roughly $39,000 a year, according to the U.S. Department of Labor’s bureau of labor statistics. Eric Eriksen, a representative of Greene Trucking in Amsterdam which hauls area farmers’ milk, said the company has no choice but to add a fuel surcharge onto its bills, and that surcharge is paid by dairy farmers. “It’s putting a heck of a burden on the farms,” Eriksen said. Greene Trucking picks up the milk from about 500 dairy farms in Vermont and New York and brings it primarily to New York City. Eriksen said taxes and tolls in New York State cost $205 to bring a load of milk downstate. And that doesn’t count the cost of fuel, which is about $518.60 per trip, he said. “It’s unbelievable. We operate on a 2 percent margin,” Eriksen said. Eriksen described the impact the fuel surcharge has had on farmers during the past year. In one year, farmers, through a surcharge, will spend about $2.24 million on taxes and tolls that go to the State of New York, Eriksen said. National trucking organizations point to several possible solutions on the federal level, such as exploring more areas to find oil to boost domestic supplies. At the state level, Lopez said, reducing the tax burden is one important step he hopes will gain momentum in the state Legislature. Lopez is sponsoring a bill to eliminate state motor fuel taxes, petroleum business taxes and other taxes on biodiesel products. The bill would also allow localities to eliminate sales tax on fuels as well. “We need to move in a positive direction. It’s not the answer, but it’s going to help,” Lopez said. Truck stop owner Vincent Gramuglia said he’s seeing the impact of higher diesel prices, in part caused by state taxes, at the fi ve truck stops and one gas station he owns in the region. “Right now, we are hurting,” Gramuglia said. Gramuglia said more truckers are filling up with only enough diesel at his area fueling stations to reach New Jersey, where the cost is dramatically lower and where they fi ll their tanks. Looman said the real impact of higher hauling costs has yet to catch up with consumers. Diesel costs have risen dramatically, but retailers and other merchants trying to hold the line haven’t reflected the true costs, he said. The prices people are currently paying for food and clothing are based on deliveries when diesel costs were about $3 per gallon, not the current $4 plus per gallon, Looman contends. “Wait until the fall,” Looman said. Warren Stamp, a truck owneroperator from the Watertown area who was making a delivery earlier in the day in Gloversville, climbs back into his truck after attending an afternoon rally in Fultonville. He said the price of fuel alone to Gloversville and back left him with little profi t. BRUCE SQUIERS/ GAZETTE PHOTOGRAPHER BRUCE SQUIERS/GAZETTE PHOTOGRAPHER Assemblymen Peter Lopez, R-Schoharie, foreground, and George Amedore, R-Rotterdam, address a rally they organized Thursday in Fultonville seeking relief for truckers from the high price of diesel fuel.
Public Service argues utility takeover proposal BY JASON SUBIK Gazette Reporter Reach Gazette reporter Jason Subik at 395-3198 or jsubik@dailygazette.net.
A utility takeover proposal winding its way through the state’s regulatory process will potentially impact the New York operations of one of the world’s largest wind power developers. Spanish utility company Iberdrola SA wants to acquire regional utility Energy East Corp. for $4.6 billion. It wants to retain its wind power interests as it does so, and build new wind farms as well. Regulators object to this on anticompetitive grounds. Negotiations between staff of the Department of Public Service and Iberdrola failed to reach a resolution in March, sending the matter to a judge. In court briefs filed earlier this week before Administrative Law Judge Rafael Epstein, staff of the Department of Public Service argued that if Iberdrola is allowed to continue to own wind energy farms within the electrical service territories it would acquire from Energy East Corp. it could enable Iberdrola to exert “vertical market power” over the price of wholesale electricity generated by wind farms in that area. Independent Power Producers of New York President Gavin Donohue said Friday he agrees with the staff of the state Department of Public Service and their objections. “They’re not saying Iberdrola can’t own wind farms in New York state, they’re saying they can’t own them in their service territory. They can own them … in the other utility areas. That’s a big distinction,” Donohue said. “The reason you can’t own [a wind farm] in your own service territory, from our perspective, is you control the transmission and distribution systems.” The Independent Power Producers of New York submitted its own brief for the case, arguing that a company that owns both a service territory and wind farms within it could favor its own farms vs. other companies that might want to locate within the territory. “Iberdrola has a great reputation as a wind developer, but the problem that we have is not so much Iberdrola as a company, it’s the whole philosophy of [companies] coming in and owning the utility [and wind farms within its territory],” Donohue said. Energy East services 3 million customers from upstate New York to Maine and owns Rochester Electric and Gas Corp. and New York State Electric & Gas Corp. In New York’s Capital Region, NYSEG serves parts of Saratoga and Rensselaer counties. Iberdrola argued in its court brief that it should be allowed to continue to own its wind farms, in part because the company plans to invest $100 million in wind farms in New York over the next three years. “Iberdrola’s commitment to invest in wind generation in New York and its considerable expertise in renewables development will directly further the state’s public policy goals,” wrote lawyers for Iberdrola and Energy East. “For the goals of these programs to materialize, the state of New York needs the presence of companies, like Iberdrola, with successful track records in renewables development. According to the brief, Iberdrola has about 7,000 megawatts of wind energy capacity installed around the world and nearly 50 percent of the company’s 41,000 MW of total installed capacity is emissions-free. New York’s Renewable Energy Portfolio Standard calls for 25 percent of the state’s energy to come from renewable energy sources, including hydroelectric power, by 2013. Without counting hydro electric power, the U.S. Energy Information Administration estimates New York only generated about 2 percent of its electricity from renewable energy sources in 2006. Gov. David Paterson, in his second executive order since taking office, created the state Energy Planning Board, chaired by Deputy Secretary for Energy Paul DeCotis. DeCotis said the board will be reviewing all of the issues pertaining to New York’s energy needs and submitting a report in March 2009. He said meeting the state’s renewable energy goals will be important to the Energy Planning Board. “There is nothing to prevent Iberdrola from investing $100 million in wind today, absent any agreement on an acquisition,” DeCotis said. Going forward, Epstein is expected to issue a recommendation to the New York Public Service Commission within a month, along with comments on his recommendation from Iberdrola and New York Department of Public Service staff members. Then the five members of the Public Service Commission board will rule on whether Iberdrola can go forward with the acquisition.
Iran's president says oil prices too low Iran's president says oil at $115 a barrel is too low, calls for higher prices
By ALI AKBAR DAREINI, Associated Press Saturday, April 19, 2008
TEHRAN, Iran -- Iran's hard-line president declared that crude oil prices, now above $115 a barrel, are too low, state media reported Saturday.
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad told an oil and gas exhibition in Tehran on Friday that he thought the commodity still had to "discover its real value," according to the Web site of Iran's state-run television. Oil prices have hit all-time highs above $115 a barrel in recent weeks, amid reports that oil and gasoline reserves in the United States were lower than expected and as the dollar sinks to record lows. "The oil price of $115 a barrel in today's global markets is a deceiving figure. Oil is a strategic commodity that needs to discover its real value," the Web site quoted Ahmadinejad as saying. Crude oil futures surged to a new trading record of $117 a barrel Friday following an attack on a key pipeline in Nigeria. The increase capped a week of record highs fueled by supply woes and the dollar's weakness relative to other major currencies. Ahmadinejad said despite high oil prices, the true value of crude oil, adjusted for inflation, is currently less than what it was in 1980. "While the price of other commodities have increased, the economic value of the current oil price is even less than 1980," he said. But some figures suggest that today's crude prices might have surpassed inflation-adjusted highs set in early 1980. Depending on how the adjustment is calculated, $38 a barrel then would be worth $96 to $103 or more today. Ahmadinejad accused Western industrialized nations of "selfishness" in their quest for cheaper oil. "When they get hold of oil, they assume that oil is a free commodity and belongs to them and has wrongly been placed in other territories. ... This is the spirit of selfishness and arrogance," Ahmadinejad was quoted as saying. A host of supply and demand concerns in the U.S. and abroad, along with the dollar's weakness, have bolstered oil prices, even as record retail gasoline prices in the U.S. appear to be dampening demand. A weaker dollar makes commodities such as oil less attractive to investors as a hedge against inflation, and it makes oil more expensive to investors overseas. Analysts believe the weaker dollar is the primary reason oil has soared this year. The effect tends to reverse when the greenback gains ground. Ahmadinejad called the U.S. currency "a handful of paper" without any global support. Iran has stopped using the U.S. dollar in its oil transactions with the outside world, switching to currencies such as euro. "The dollar is not money any longer but a handful of paper distributed in the world without commodity support," the Web site quoted Ahmadinejad as saying.
Target true culprits in gas price squeeze: Big Oil
Re April 16 article, “McCain proposes break on gas tax”: Beware of Republican presidential candidate John McCain bearing gifts. He suggested there be a moratorium on the states’ gasoline tax to lower gas prices. States need that money to maintain the highways, especially in northern states like ours. If he really care about the voters, he would ask his fat-cat oil company supporters to lower their prices. For the last several years, their profits have been the highest ever. They could reduce their cost 12 cents a gallon and still make a reasonable profit. It’s time oil companies stop taking advantage of all hard-working people, who must drive to keep their jobs. ELEANOR ROWLAND Niskayuna
Okay, we can go after the big oil conglomerates, but what about going after our government who has placed taxes on top of the ever increasing prices as well. Our government officials are using this 'oil train' to grab even more money from us. They are just as bad...if not worse...than the oil magnets!!!
When the INSANE are running the ASYLUM In individuals, insanity is rare; but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule. -- Friedrich Nietzsche
“How fortunate for those in power that people never think.” Adolph Hitler
All these examples do NOT imply that gasoline is cheap; it just illustrates how outrageous some prices are....
You will be really shocked by the last one! (At least, I was...)
Compared with Gasoline......
Think a gallon of gas is expensive?
This makes one think, and also puts things in perspective.
Diet Snapple 16 oz $1.29 ... $10.32 per gallon
Lipton Ice Tea 16 oz $1.19...$9.52 per gallon
Gatorade 20 oz $1.59 ... $10.17 per gallon
Ocean Spray 16 oz $1.25 ... $10.00 per gallon
Brake Fluid 12 oz $3.15...$33.60 per gallon
Vick's Nyquil 6 oz $8.35...$178.13 per gallon
Pepto Bismol 4 oz $3.85 .. $123.20 per gallon
Whiteout 7 oz $1.39 ...$25.42 per gallon
Scope 1.5 oz $0.99...$84.48 per gallon And this is the REAL KICKER...
Evian water 9 oz $1.49..$21.19 per gallon! $21.19 for WATER and the buyers don't even know the source
(Evian spelled backwards is Naive.)
Ever wonder why printers are so cheap? So they have you hooked for the ink. Someone calculated the cost of the ink at...(you won't believe it...but it is true...) $5,200 a gal. (five thousand two hundred dollars)
So, the next time you're at the pump, be glad your car doesn't run on water, Scope, or Whiteout, Pepto Bismol, Nyquil or God forbid, Printer Ink!
Just a little humor to help ease the pain of your next trip to the pump...
I say stop refining for Super grade gas and just make regular......super is at $4.01/gal....stop making it and increase the supply of the other crap......duh.....whoever drives those vehicles needing super-unleaded need lesson on supply and demand....there are more folks that demand regular unleaded than super unleaded......
...you are a product of your environment, your environment is a product of your priorities, your priorities are a product of you......
The replacement of morality and conscience with law produces a deadly paradox.
STOP BEING GOOD DEMOCRATS---STOP BEING GOOD REPUBLICANS--START BEING GOOD AMERICANS
Oil strikes new record near $120 on supply fears Sun Apr 27, 2008
Oil struck a record high at $119.93 a barrel on Monday, extending the previous session's rally, as a strike closed a major British oil pipeline and as fresh violence in Nigeria reignited supply fears.
Simmering geopolitical tensions between the United States and Iran also helped boost oil prices.
U.S. light crude for June delivery rose 81 cents to $119.33 by 2249 GMT, after striking a lifetime high of $119.93 a barrel at the start of Globex electronic trade.
U.S. oil settled $2.46 higher at $118.52 a barrel on Friday.
London Brent crude rose 66 cents to $117.
"Supply side concerns underpinned the oil price," David Moore, a commodity strategist at the Commonwealth Bank of Australia, said in a note to clients.
"Oil supplies from Nigeria have been disrupted by militant attacks and a strike by some oil workers. A strike at the Grangemouth refinery in Scotland has caused significant disruption to supplies from the North Sea," he said.
A pipeline carrying nearly half of Britain's oil was closed on Sunday as a strike over pensions began at the neighboring Grangemouth refinery in Scotland, operator BP (BP.L) said.
The refinery, owned by international chemical company Ineos, produces a tenth of Britain's petrol and diesel but also supplies vital steam to BP's Kinneil plant that starts to process the crude oil coming ashore frol 70 North Sea fields.
In Nigeria, unidentified gunmen killed five policemen and seized several weapons in a raid on a police station in the oil-rich southern Nigerian state of Rivers on Sunday, a police spokeswoman said.
The attack comes just two days after a strike and attacks by rebels forced Nigeria's two largest oil firms, Exxon Mobil (XOM.N) and Royal Dutch Shell (RDSa.L), to shut in some production.
A step up in tensions between U.S. and the world's fourth-largest crude exporter Iran also contributed to oil's gain.
A cargo ship hired by the U.S. military fired warning shots at boats suspected to be Iranian, the U.S. Navy said on Friday, underscoring tension in the Gulf as the Pentagon sharpened its warnings to Tehran.
Iran denied there had been any confrontation between its forces and a U.S. ship, Iranian media reported.
Iran also said on Sunday a "disastrous situation" facing the United States in Iraq and Afghanistan, coupled with Washington's domestic issues, made any U.S. attack on the Islamic Republic unlikely.
Tensions between Washington and the OPEC nation last year helped send oil to record highs. Crude prices have surged more than five-fold since 2002 as supplies struggle to keep pace with rising demand in emerging economies, such as China.
So I guess we all take the slow train to work and walk......maybe we will actually stop and smell the roses....unlike the military guys/gals overseas......
...you are a product of your environment, your environment is a product of your priorities, your priorities are a product of you......
The replacement of morality and conscience with law produces a deadly paradox.
STOP BEING GOOD DEMOCRATS---STOP BEING GOOD REPUBLICANS--START BEING GOOD AMERICANS
Bad valves add to gas cost Pump can be off as much as $5 for every tank fill-up SCHENECTADY COUNTY BY MICHAEL GORMLEY The Associated Press
Angry about the price of gas? Just imagine paying for gas you don’t get. Some alert consumers have noticed it over the years: A pump that seems to hesitate a second when the lever is squeezed. Anywhere from 2 to 6 cents tick off before the rush of gasoline starts. That’s what happens with a common, hard to diagnose and mostly ignored problem with the “check valve,” which is supposed to make sure gas flows at the same time the price meter starts. But even if your gas pump works, it can still be off as much as $5 for every fill up. Tests by local regulators allow a pump to charge as much as 6 cents more than the gas delivered in a five-gallon test, but there can be wild fluctuations. Federal regulators said they had heard of swings of as much as 30 to 40 cents per gallon. Don’t blame the gas guys. Even consumer advocates say retailers may be losing as often as consumers and no one appears able to rig the meters. But the small “check valve” at the end of the multibillion dollar industry just wears out, and often goes unnoticed for months. Regulators’ records show short staffing, particularly for financially struggling counties that try to inspect pumps every six months, but too often don’t even meet the one-year requirement in states like New York. Federal standards require all gas pumps to start pumping gas as soon as the price meter starts, said Ken Butcher of the National Institute of Standards of Technology part of the U.S. Commerce Department. Bob Wolfram knew something was wrong when the pump he used in Davenport, Iowa, showed he put two more gallons of gas into his tank than the tank holds. “I was low, but it wasn’t negative,” said Wolfram, a 54-year-old engineer. He reported it to a consumer Web site then took it to the government regulators, who acted promptly. But even then, the test showed the pump was only off a quart. “I just kind of said, ‘What will they do next?’ ” Wolfram said. Correcting the problem depends on alert, well-informed consumers like Wolfram. It also depends on honest retailers who choose to pass along reports to regulators who must confirm the problem before an authorized repair company is called to fix it. “There’s one Mobil owner, he tells clerks that if there’s a discrepancy within $5 to reimburse the customer,” said C. Todd Godlewski, director of the Schenectady County Bureau of Weights and Measures, the agency that inspects pumps. “Yes, it can be that much,” he said. A bad valve can also work against retailers, freezing the price gauge for an instant after gas starts. No one’s sure who gets gored more, or how deeply. “Even one penny on the amount of petroleum pumped annually or weekly at a station would be several thousand gallons of fuel, and add that up,” Godlewski said. “If you have a meter that is costing a customer, it adds up quite a bit.” The problem compounds the aggravation of record high gas prices. On Tuesday, the national average hit a record $3.51 per gallon, according to a survey of stations by AAA and the Oil Price Information Service. That’s nearly 66 cents higher than last year, and rising. “We’ll hear complaints about this quite regularly, usually several each week,” said Jason Toews, co-founder of the independent nationwide Web site GasBuddy.com that tracks prices and complaints. “It’s mostly about the principle of it,” he said. He said the problem usually only costs a consumer pennies per fill-up, but that’s more than enough these days. Toews discounts the conspiracy theories that blame the problem on retailers or the oil industry. Most retailers, he said, wouldn’t know how to alter the pumps to their benefi t. A New York Comptroller’s Office audit in 2000 found “many municipalities” statewide failed to inspect their pumps once a year as required (the best practice is two inspections every year) and that meters were corrected during testing, which could mask overcharging. Four years later, a follow-up audit found only partial resolution, partly because of too little staffi ng. Bob Renkes of the Petroleum Equipment Institute based in Tulsa, Okla., has heard about complaints, “mostly when gas prices are high.” He said meters “get looser over time,” which could make them malfunction and start to count pennies before fuel starts pumping. “I think our industry would love to replace anything that wears down,” Renkes said. But the check valves aren’t a high priority when the industry is dealing with issues such as preventing identity theft when swipe cards are used, static electricity discharges and the 5 percent of retailers whose old mechanical equipment can’t register a price of $4 a gallon. State and local regulators doubt any but the most ambitious consumers would contact them in case of a problem, even though the phone numbers are on inspection stickers. More likely, consumers fume and wonder if they were cheated, or report it to the manager of the gas station or convenience store. “That’s what’s tough about this,” said Jessica Chittenden, spokeswoman for New York’s weights and measures office that oversees local inspectors. “The two cents or whatever would go to the retailer.” Even when a report is made, and a local inspector is dispatched, the problem might not be fixed. Chittenden said a faulty valve would likely work sporadically: “It’s very difficult to find it unless you are there every day several times a day.” Godlewski said he’s found pumps off by as much as three times the 6-cent threshold. Because of it, Schenectady County this year is tracking pump problems and hopes to quantify it for the first time. MIKE GROLL/THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Joe Marcello Sr. of the Schenectady County weights and measures department tests gas pump accuracy Wednesday at a station in Duanesburg.
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