“Customers really don’t want to hear it, but fuel prices are going through the roof so we’re having to charge more,” said John Migliorini, vice president of Lakeville Trucking in Rochester, N.Y., where diesel costs have nearly doubled to about $400,000 a month. “What choice do we have? I’ve never seen prices jump this high, this fast.”
The company has a fleet of 30 tractor trailers that transport general freight and food products, including groceries for the supermarket chain Wegmans. Each truck goes through about 100 gallons of diesel a day, Migliorini said.
Record-high gas prices are seeping into everyday costs beyond the pump, adding new uncertainty to the economic recovery. Prices hit $4.33 this week after the Biden administration took steps to ban Russian oil imports, boosting the prospect of higher short-term inflation while threatening economic growth and spending and even reshaping hiring patterns. Higher energy…