Record fuel prices across the country have left people in the south of England looking for ways to cope with the rising costs. Earlier this week, the RAC said diesel prices in the UK had reached an all time high, with the cost of petrol also rising, due to the ongoing conflict in the Middle East. One garage manager from Berkshire said he had noticed a change in customer behaviour, with customers more likely to put £20 of fuel in, rather than fill their tanks up.
Meanwhile, a small charity helping people with multiple sclerosis (MS) in Dorset said it would have to find ways to cut costs, as it was now costing an extra £2,000 a year to run a key minibus service. The MS Centre Dorset runs a fleet of five minibuses, helping users across the county to get to its base in West Parley. But manager Diana Logan‑Watts said diesel prices had "rocketed so quickly" that the extra costs were "not something that we had budgeted into account".
On Monday, the RAC said diesel prices had entered "uncharted territory" and served as a reminder of "just how exposed the UK is to events occurring far away". It said diesel prices had hit an all-time high of 199.33p per litre - rising by just under 40% since the US-Israel conflict with Iran erupted at the end of February. Logan-Watts said this the MS Centre Dorset would "keep on keeping on" despite the vast cost increases, and ensure users could still get to the centre.
"But these rising costs have a knock-on effect, and we don't want to put additional prices and costs onto our members who are already struggling with the cost of living," she said. "So we have to try and absorb those costs elsewhere, and one of those ways is thinking more closely about the additional services that we're able to offer, like trips. "These make a real positive difference to our members lives, but will have to be looked at in more depth and ask where the money's going to come from." It's not just charities in the South feeling the pinch though, with Southampton taxi driver Neil McLean asking "what can we do?" about the soaring costs.
"We've got to earn a living, and none of us are happy," he said. "It's not putting money in our pockets, it's taking money out of our pockets - and it needs to stop." David Price owns Southampton-based DCP Haulage, and said if things did not improve he would have to look at "parking up trucks" or "actually downscaling". "We just can't physically afford the fuel prices, we're looking an extra £250 a week per vehicle," Price said.
"We have downscaled a lot lately and we have talked about packing it all up. "It's not worth it with these prices - you're just not making any money." Ian Govier manages the Littlewick Green Motor Company garage in Maidenhead, and said his costs had "gone up dramatically over the years". "Ten years ago, we'd look at having [a profit margin of] 6p a litre, now I really need close to 15p a litre to still have the same profit," he said.
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