CLEVELAND, Ohio — Supply and demand is a tough game to play, just ask David Hardy.
Hardy is the Chief Operations Officer of Bonnie Speed Logistics, an Ohio-based package delivery company.
The price of gas is making the company’s job tough, it raised its prices, implemented fuel surcharges and staffing has also taken a hit
“This is the first time in my eight years that I've seen it to this extent,” said Hardy. “Independent contractors really rely on the profitability of course, so insurance and gas are the biggest cost for them. I’ve seen us get a lot of guys [drivers] in the door and then two or three weeks later they can’t survive.”
Gas prices are heavily dependent on crude oil prices, this same time in 2019 the price tag was about $56 per barrel according to the Energy Information Administration.
As of Monday—crude oil was nearly $82 dollars per barrel and AAA says it’s unclear when we could see some relief.
“It looks like as long as crude oil prices stay above 80 dollars a barrel, we will still be dealing with higher gas prices,” said AAA East Central spokesperson Lynda Lambert.
Hardy said he’ll continue to figure out what works and what doesn’t in order to stay afloat, but ultimately who his company serves is going to feel the most impact.
“There's a trickledown effect to what’s going on in our industry and the customer ends up suffering a little bit,” said Hardy.
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