YORK COUNTY, Pa. — The international unrest between Russia and Ukraine sparked a huge price increase in crude oil, surpassing $100 per barrel last week.
It's now decreased, however, consumers remain on high alert because the rise in the price of crude oil makes for an increase in fuel prices. With inflation already rising, this is not good news for the wallets of many Americans and those across the globe.
"If companies aren't going to be profitable, that means fewer jobs, that means less tax revenue into the state and federal and local governments so that's where that overall impact on everybody hits when we see these issues," Gene Barr, president and CEO of Pennsylvania Business and Industry, said.
Though many drivers have to withstand the fluctuation in fuel price, this adds a double impact for trucking companies.
"Freight went up after COVID, it kind of like doubled," Daniel Brunston, owner of Nations Carriers, LLC, a transportation company, said. "With fuel prices where they're at right now, I'm not really feeling it right now."
Brunston said he saw the price of fuel go up right before the 2008 recession so the current situation is not a shock to him. The problem is the price of freight, he says. He also said that prices go up naturally as the seasons change with more people on-the-go.
Brunston added that running cheap freight will decrease the affordability of extra costs needed for transport such as gas.
"We've got to keep our trucks rolling, we've got to get paid," he said. "You can't run cheap freights, you'll go out of business."
To function with the increasing price of fuel, Barr says businesses will have to increase their own prices, however, what stands true is profit must be made.