I guess someone forgot to get their $247 in change.

[Shockeye]

Truckers Fret Over Gas Prices In Rita's Wake
Some Companies Consider Installing Surcharges

POSTED: 8:29 pm CDT September 23, 2005
UPDATED: 8:36 pm CDT September 23, 2005

MADISON, Wis. -- Many fear a major hit by Hurricane Rita will spur another sharp spike in gas prices, but consumers aren't the only ones worried.

Wisconsin trucking companies -- especially smaller ones -- are bracing for what could be a huge price hike in diesel gas.

Some trucking businesses are so worried, they have emergency plans in case forecasters are right. Some of them are predicting the price of diesel will jump not by cents, but by dollars.

Think you've got sticker shock? Try filling up the gas tank on a semi truck. You'll need more than a few 20's to foot the bill.

At $2.79 a gallon for diesel fuel, the price can ring in at over $300 for 19 gallons.

"The owner told me yesterday he's heard possibly 5 bucks a gallon, which is obviously almost double what it is now," said Glen Krueger, the manager at Kroschekee Transfer, Inc. At the Madison terminal for Koschkee Transfer,

Drivers are being warned to fill up soon, because prices could go through the roof this weekend.

Truck business and others around the state are busy bracing for a fuel emergency as soon as Monday.

Koschkee's contingency plan is to cut back on routes and temporarily lay-off drivers.

Medium-sized trucking operations like furniture movers use mostly diesel too.

At Two Men & A Truck, the owner said he'll have no choice to levy a temporary fuel surcharge if gas costs keep rising.

"If we hit $3 and stay at $3 and above for diesel fuel, then we will have to put an immediate increase in our rates," said Tim Lightner.

Gov. Jim Doyle is warning Wisconsin consumers to look out for violations of the state's consumer protection laws when it comes to gas prices.

Under Wisconsin's law, the price of gas can't go up twice in a 24 hour period, and the price at the pump can't differ from what's posted on the sign. Contact the state's consumer protection hotline if you see violations of the markup laws.

The hotline number is (800) 422-7128.

Bold mine.

[Strazos]

My step-dad use to own and run a dump truck.

Fueling up was not fun.

EDIT: Fixed an inadvertant insult to good truckers everywhere.

[Llava]

At $2.79 a gallon for diesel fuel, the price can ring in at over $300 for 19 gallons

I am so confused.  In what world is $2.79*19>$300?  Last I checked, at 2.79 a gallon, you'd need to buy a bit over 107 gallons for it to be $300.

I'd get it if they said "For a long trip on a 19 gallon truck" but they said "At 2.79 a gallon, you need 19 gallons, that equals more than $300."  Wha?  I mean, I know there's tax on top of that but...

[schild]

It's probably 2.78 and 9/10ths, as in tax is included. And whoever wrote the article is dumb as hell.

[Murgos]

I'm guessing it's the 19 thats wrong.  It takes more than 19 gallons to get a fully loaded semi up to speed (not really but you get my drift).

[schild]

I'm guessing it's the 19 thats wrong.  It takes more than 19 gallons to get a fully loaded semi up to speed (not really but you get my drift).

I thought semis clocked in between 25 and 40 gallons. Even then, $300 is ENTIRELY unrealistic. Had they said $100 to $150, I would have understood and still been appalled. But remember, it's more impressive when the fish is THIS big.

[Merusk]

25 gallons? Do you not fill up your own cars?  V6's have around 15 gallon tanks and they're small cars.  I had a V8 that had a 21 gallon tank and that got me 350-ish miles, and v8 is considerably smaller than a Semi.  Semis have anywhere between 150-300 gallon fuel tanks.

[Llava]

Exactly.  My car is a honda accord and takes 16 gallons.  That's why the 19 so confused me, and how they arrived at that math is even stranger.

Maybe 190?  I don't know how much gas semis take, but it's more than 19 gallons.

[TheWalrus]

My step-dad use to own and run a dumb truck.

Fueling up was not fun.

Now why you have to go insultin a trucks intelligence like that?