Grant Boxsell of Boxsell Transport in Cootamundra said it is becoming increasingly difficult to come up with the capital to continue filling the tanks of his five trucks.

He said while it is possible to pass on fuel price hikes to customers, it is hard to raise prices fast enough to keep up with the sky-rocketing cost of diesel.

There is also the difficulty of being a sub-contractor.

Mr Boxsell said if you are carting a load on behalf of another transport company then you are at the mercy of their set rate, which does not fluctuate with rises and falls in external costs such as fuel.

Only about 25 per cent of Mr Boxsell’s business is sub-contracting.

He said other transport companies rely heavily on this type of business, and it is these companies that are feeling the effects of rising fuel prices the most, as they are having to absorb these cost themselves.

In an effort to keep on top of the rising costs associated with owning a transport company, Mr Boxsell has purchased a B-Double, with carries half as much load again as a semi-trailer.

He said, while using a B-Double does assist in keeping overheads under control, it is only practical when there is enough to cart.

In addition to a greater upfront cost a B-Double also attracts higher registration and drivers of these trucks must be paid more.

With his own customers Mr Boxsell said he generally adjusts his prices every time the price of fuel fluctuates by a few cents.

He said if his prices need to go up there is a lag between when he has to pay more for petrol and when that capital is recouped from the client.

With a semi-trailer using a litre of fuel every two km’s and a B-Double getting about 1.6 to 1.8 km’s out of a litre of fuel, according to Mr Boxsell, it is no surprise that increasing prices are having a major impact on his business, and every similar business.

“Fuel has always been a major input cost, it is just costing more these days, so we have to do more work to make the same amount of money,” Mr Boxsell said.

“It is not just trucking companies suffering, everyone is feeling the effect of increased petrol prices, so we just get by the best way we can.”