Ontario truck operators buckling under high fuel prices

OSHAWA, Ont. (Sept. 17. 2000) — A group of independent owner-operators plan to shut down Friday unless the provincial government takes steps to lower fuel costs.

Leaders of the National Truckers Association, claiming to represent about 1700 truck drivers, said they hoped to meet with Ministry of Trade and Tourism officials this week to lobby for fuel tax relief. In Ontario, the current level of federal and provincial excise taxation on diesel fuel are 4 cents per litre (federal) plus 14.3 cents per litre (provincial). GST is creditable for trucking businesses.

Combined, the federal and provincial excise taxes on diesel fuel account for 42% of the rack price of diesel fuel. The rack price of diesel fuel in Ontario is now higher than it was in February and March 2000.

The NTA arose out of protests and work stoppages earlier this year. Slow-moving convoys and blockades of fuel depots galvanized independent truck operators for a period of a few weeks in January and February.

Ontario Trucking Association president David Bradley, speaking to journalists at a trade show in Toronto last week, said his group supports the NTA in principle but it does not endorse its protest tactics. The OTA, which represents truck fleets in the province, called on cooperative measures from carriers, drivers, oil companies, and governments to ease pressure on fuel buyers, including fuel surcharges from shippers, temporary tax relief from the government, and fuel-efficient operating practices by carriers and drivers.

“Every cent per litre increase in the rack price of diesel fuel reduces a trucking company’s profit margin by half a per cent,” said a statement from the OTA board of directors issued Sept. 14. “Each dollar per barrel increase in crude oil is reflected in an approximate increase of 1 cent per litre in the rack price of diesel fuel.”