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Corridor Economy: Running on Empty |
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Gas prices pinch Corridor businesses
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| Corridor Inc. Staff Writer
Originally published June 2008  Paul Plowman, owner of Wildflowers of Pasadena, has had to raise the company’s delivery cost to offset the high gas prices.
“It’s a tough period and there’s not a lot that you can do,” said Mitchell, whose company has 80 truck drivers. “You can try to work it into your rates but that takes time to build in and change is hard to do when you have people locked into a price.”
Mitchell isn’t alone.
High prices at the pump are affecting all types of businesses — from trucking companies and florists to dry cleaners and bus companies — and increased prices have trickled down to the consumer.
 “We are going out of business; it’s a really tough time for all of us in the flower business,” said Paul Plowman, owner of florist shop Wildflowers of Pasadena. “You will see a lot of florists going out of business this year because it’s a product people can easily live without. Business is the worst it’s been since 9-11.”
Plowman has issued a $10 delivery fee to customers. That’s up from the regular delivery charge of $6.
 An E. Stewart Mitchell truck driver fills his tank with diesel fuel. The truck’s two tanks will hold 100 gallons and take him about 600 miles.
As of early May, U.S. diesel fuel reached $4.14 a gallon, up 135.7 percent from the same time last year, according to the U.S. Department of Energy.
With diesel at $4-plus a gallon, a truck with two 150-gallon tanks is paying $1,000 to fill up, but gets just five to seven miles per gallon, said Louis Campion, senior vice president of the Maryland Motor Truck Association, a statewide nonprofit group representing the trucking and transportation industry.
 Campion expects diesel fuel will continue to escalate over the summer.
“While the industry is used to dealing with this, we are at an unprecedented rate now,” he said. “At times it’s an increase of over 10 cents a gallon per week.”
Eyre Bus, Tour & Travel in Howard County is considering a three to five percent price increase to offset costs, said Mike McDonal, director of operations. Local bus trips cost $600 to $800 for an average fill up.
“The hard part is you can’t budget for it,” said McDonal.
However, Eyre hasn’t seen a slowdown in business. Day trips are on the rise and the commuter service, which runs from Hagerstown to Gaithersburg, has had a 28 percent increase in ridership, said McDonal.
“Summertime things normally slow down some but we’re not seeing that,” he said. “So far people seem to be going in together on group day trips as mini vacations and scaling back.”
For David Sarazad, general manager of Express Dry Cleaning in Gaithersburg and Rockville, gas has impacted the bottom line. The stores offer free pickup and delivery.
“That’s the bulk of our business but it’s real damaging to us financially,” said Sarazad, who estimates high gas prices have added an additional 10 percent to his cost.
It costs $140 to fill up a delivery van compared to $95 last year, said Sarazad. To save money he now delivers only within a 12- to 15-mile radius and laid off two part-time employees.
E. Stewart Mitchell has placed restrictions on when drivers can idle and set truck speeds to conserve gas.
“You have to continue to watch your costs and do your best to save fuel because we’re not recovering the cost of it,” said Mitchell. “Sometimes it means educating drivers or dispatching of trucks without hurting customer service which is tricky; it’s all about adapting to change.” |
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