dieseldiva
Veteran Expediter
This is the transcript from an interview that Glenn Beck did last night with a fleet owner from OH. While I'm always glad to see the trucking industry get some press, I really question this guy's claim that he charges .87 FSC, I mean sheesh, wouldn't we all be thrilled with that, and he admits it's "on the high side"!!!
BECK: Well, some people say that America`s image abroad is ruined. Democrats like Hillary and Obama blame President Bush and the GOP. I`ll tell you why that argument is just full of crap in just a second.
But first, welcome to "The Real Story." A few days ago, the stock market posted its biggest one-day gain in five years. Whew. The crisis is over. Today, a major fund unexpectedly failed, and it`s panic time again.
I think I speak for -- well, I think I speak for a lot of us when I say, OK, I don`t know what`s really going on. I just want to know why it costs me so much for eggs, bacon and to fill up my gas tank.
The key, I think, for all of us who don`t live on Wall Street is to stop listening to the day-to-day noise and instead just focus on the key things that actually affect us.
One of the biggest things is the price of oil. It hit yet another all-time high. Today, $111 a barrel. But everyone will tell you that oil prices are important, because how much it costs you to fill up your car or heat your house. But "The Real Story" is, oil has a hidden cost, as well.
Every extra dollar we spend on oil is another dollar that we don`t put back into our own economy. Let me do a little back of the envelope math to show you what I mean.
The beginning of last December, oil prices were about $89 a barrel. Yesterday, they were $110. That`s an increase of $21 per barrel.
Now, America uses 20 million barrels of oil every day. So you multiply $21 by 20 million barrels, and you get $424.2 million of extra money spent every single day by you and me. Multiply that by 105 days -- that`s what it`s been since December 1 -- and you get close to $45 billion.
Now, if I may put that into perspective. The stimulus checks, you know, coming soon to a mailbox near you? The whole thing the government did puts about $100 billion out there. But studies say only about 25 percent of that will actually be spent. So the checks may put in $25 billion back into the economy, but higher oil prices alone are dwarfing that.
In fact, when I said, a few weeks ago, that the only economy the stimulus checks are going to help is China, I was wrong, I admit it. I stand corrected. The only economy they are going to help is Saudi Arabia`s. In fact, the only economy that it`s not going to help is ours.
And if you want proof of that, you just talk to the country`s truckers, many of whom are small business owners just trying to scrape by right now. High gas prices, high prices on diesel, might be a nuisance for us, but they`re life and death for some of these truckers. And right now, they are dying.
Chad Beachler, he is a co-owner of Beachler Trucking.
Now, you just look like -- you couldn`t -- you couldn`t come on the screen with hair? You look like a trucker.
CHAD BEACHLER, CO-OWNER, BEACHLER TRUCKING: Thank you.
BECK: How are you, sir?
BEACHLER: Very well, thank you for having us.
BECK: You come on from -- in Ohio. You transport eggs from Ohio to Pennsylvania and New York, right?
BEACHLER: That`s correct.
BECK: OK. How much does it cost for you today to fill up your truck with diesel?
BEACHLER: Each truck is proximately around $800. It fluctuates, depending on how much fuel they have. Between $600 and $800 per truck. And we have nine trucks.
BECK: OK. And how much was it, you know, two months ago or last year? How much has that gone up? What is the increased cost to you?
BEACHLER: It`s really unconscionable how much it`s gone up. It`s to the point now where it`s virtually within -- I would say, it`s going up at least 40 percent, without putting an accurate -- you know, a calculator to it.
But the only thing I know is that I`m taking fuel cost that I had last year and paying approximately $3,000 a day, with our small fleet of nine, to approximately $7,000 a day now.
BECK: Holy cow. You`ve taken out an equity loan, or you`ve tried to refinance, just to meet these fuel costs, right?
BEACHLER: Well, exactly. If it weren`t for your local bank in Lauderville (ph), the Farmer`s Bank, they have been extremely helpful to us. And, you know, we paid off one of our trucks last -- two weeks ago. Excuse me. And last week we refinanced it on a line of credit to pay the food bill.
BECK: And the food is affected just as well. I mean, you have a family of four.
BEACHLER: Yes.
BECK: It used to cost you, what, $180 a week.
BEACHLER: Basically, yes. That`s gone up to about $240, so...
BECK: Unbelievable. Are you able to pass any of this onto your -- how much of this do you have to eat?
BEACHLER: We -- you know, we try to pass on a fuel surcharge. Right now our fuel surcharge is around 87 cents a mile. That`s a little on the high end, compared to what most companies are going to pay.
I`ve great shippers in Hillendale Farms, and you know, they have been very helpful in trying -- keeping us in business.
BECK: Chad, I`ve got to tell you, I know it`s not much, but I`m going to send you, because I think if you`re anything like me, you would drill through the head of a caribou to get to the oil in Alaska. I`m going to -- "Screw the Caribou, Drill Alaska" T-shirt.
BEACHLER: OK.
BECK: That`s available on the Web site. I`ll -- I`ll send it to you. Thank you very much.
BEACHLER: I sure appreciate it. And thanks for having us.
BECK: You keep it up.
BECK: Well, some people say that America`s image abroad is ruined. Democrats like Hillary and Obama blame President Bush and the GOP. I`ll tell you why that argument is just full of crap in just a second.
But first, welcome to "The Real Story." A few days ago, the stock market posted its biggest one-day gain in five years. Whew. The crisis is over. Today, a major fund unexpectedly failed, and it`s panic time again.
I think I speak for -- well, I think I speak for a lot of us when I say, OK, I don`t know what`s really going on. I just want to know why it costs me so much for eggs, bacon and to fill up my gas tank.
The key, I think, for all of us who don`t live on Wall Street is to stop listening to the day-to-day noise and instead just focus on the key things that actually affect us.
One of the biggest things is the price of oil. It hit yet another all-time high. Today, $111 a barrel. But everyone will tell you that oil prices are important, because how much it costs you to fill up your car or heat your house. But "The Real Story" is, oil has a hidden cost, as well.
Every extra dollar we spend on oil is another dollar that we don`t put back into our own economy. Let me do a little back of the envelope math to show you what I mean.
The beginning of last December, oil prices were about $89 a barrel. Yesterday, they were $110. That`s an increase of $21 per barrel.
Now, America uses 20 million barrels of oil every day. So you multiply $21 by 20 million barrels, and you get $424.2 million of extra money spent every single day by you and me. Multiply that by 105 days -- that`s what it`s been since December 1 -- and you get close to $45 billion.
Now, if I may put that into perspective. The stimulus checks, you know, coming soon to a mailbox near you? The whole thing the government did puts about $100 billion out there. But studies say only about 25 percent of that will actually be spent. So the checks may put in $25 billion back into the economy, but higher oil prices alone are dwarfing that.
In fact, when I said, a few weeks ago, that the only economy the stimulus checks are going to help is China, I was wrong, I admit it. I stand corrected. The only economy they are going to help is Saudi Arabia`s. In fact, the only economy that it`s not going to help is ours.
And if you want proof of that, you just talk to the country`s truckers, many of whom are small business owners just trying to scrape by right now. High gas prices, high prices on diesel, might be a nuisance for us, but they`re life and death for some of these truckers. And right now, they are dying.
Chad Beachler, he is a co-owner of Beachler Trucking.
Now, you just look like -- you couldn`t -- you couldn`t come on the screen with hair? You look like a trucker.
CHAD BEACHLER, CO-OWNER, BEACHLER TRUCKING: Thank you.
BECK: How are you, sir?
BEACHLER: Very well, thank you for having us.
BECK: You come on from -- in Ohio. You transport eggs from Ohio to Pennsylvania and New York, right?
BEACHLER: That`s correct.
BECK: OK. How much does it cost for you today to fill up your truck with diesel?
BEACHLER: Each truck is proximately around $800. It fluctuates, depending on how much fuel they have. Between $600 and $800 per truck. And we have nine trucks.
BECK: OK. And how much was it, you know, two months ago or last year? How much has that gone up? What is the increased cost to you?
BEACHLER: It`s really unconscionable how much it`s gone up. It`s to the point now where it`s virtually within -- I would say, it`s going up at least 40 percent, without putting an accurate -- you know, a calculator to it.
But the only thing I know is that I`m taking fuel cost that I had last year and paying approximately $3,000 a day, with our small fleet of nine, to approximately $7,000 a day now.
BECK: Holy cow. You`ve taken out an equity loan, or you`ve tried to refinance, just to meet these fuel costs, right?
BEACHLER: Well, exactly. If it weren`t for your local bank in Lauderville (ph), the Farmer`s Bank, they have been extremely helpful to us. And, you know, we paid off one of our trucks last -- two weeks ago. Excuse me. And last week we refinanced it on a line of credit to pay the food bill.
BECK: And the food is affected just as well. I mean, you have a family of four.
BEACHLER: Yes.
BECK: It used to cost you, what, $180 a week.
BEACHLER: Basically, yes. That`s gone up to about $240, so...
BECK: Unbelievable. Are you able to pass any of this onto your -- how much of this do you have to eat?
BEACHLER: We -- you know, we try to pass on a fuel surcharge. Right now our fuel surcharge is around 87 cents a mile. That`s a little on the high end, compared to what most companies are going to pay.
I`ve great shippers in Hillendale Farms, and you know, they have been very helpful in trying -- keeping us in business.
BECK: Chad, I`ve got to tell you, I know it`s not much, but I`m going to send you, because I think if you`re anything like me, you would drill through the head of a caribou to get to the oil in Alaska. I`m going to -- "Screw the Caribou, Drill Alaska" T-shirt.
BEACHLER: OK.
BECK: That`s available on the Web site. I`ll -- I`ll send it to you. Thank you very much.
BEACHLER: I sure appreciate it. And thanks for having us.
BECK: You keep it up.
