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Bob Dolyniuk

 

We can expect the fighting in the Arab World to hit us in the pocket book in Southern Manitoba, and not just at the gas pumps. Bob Dolyniuk is executive director of the Manitoba Trucking Association. He says a jump in oil prices, caused by uprisings in places like Egypt and Libya, resulted in a jump of almost 10 cents per litre in fuel prices last week. Dolyniuk tells us there's no way trucking companies can absorb that cost so it'll be passed along to consumers.

Fuel is one of the largest cost factors for trucking companies," says Dolyniuk. He goes on, "Trucking companies will be increasing their fuel surcharges to adjust for this increased cost. Unfortunately, this cost will be passed on to the shipper public and ultimately the consumer."

He explains, in a good operating environment, trucking companies net 5 to 7 cents for every dollar of revenue. And he adds we have not been in a good operating environment for a few years and so fuel price increases have to be passed along to consumers.
   
Dolyniuk expects price increases on store shelves will vary but will probably be in the range of a few cents per item.

He says prices spikes like this make it more important than ever for industry and government to come up with alternative energy sources.