PSoTD

Less trucks means less delivered stuff...

High fuel prices are taking semis off the road.

With diesel surpassing $4 a gallon, trucking operations as small as one person and as large as 1,000 drivers are closing down and parking their semis.

"In the first quarter of 2008, more than 1,000 companies declared bankruptcy," said Steve Schuster, the president of trucking company Schuster Co. in Le Mars.

Last week, the national average for a gallon of diesel was $4.70. The 2007 yearly average was $2.77. A nearly 100 percent increase is a tough bullet to bite, especially with rigs that get six miles to the gallon.

"When it costs 75-80 cents per mile just in fuel, that adds up very fast," said Schuster, whose fleet includes 300 semi-tractors.