Record-high diesel prices are putting pressure on freight and delivery companies, including Midwest Urban Logistics in Indianapolis.

Owner Saad Yazid says fuel has become his company’s biggest expense. He operates three diesel box trucks and spends about $3,000 a week on diesel.

“It costs more to fuel my trucks than to pay my drivers.”

Yazid says higher fuel costs are also forcing him to reconsider which loads he takes. He says when diesel was about $3.51 a gallon, he charged roughly $2.50 per mile. At nearly $6 a gallon, he says he needs to charge about $3.50 a mile to make the same amount of money.

“I’m not able to run freight at that rate because I would lose.”

Yazid says some companies try to push the higher fuel costs onto trucking owners instead of paying more for freight.

He also expects higher transportation costs to eventually reach consumers.

“Stuff is gonna start costing more at the grocery store and when you go to Walmart or when you go to Costco, prices are gonna increase because the cost has to be absorbed at some point.”

Yazid says the rising costs have even made him consider temporarily shutting down.

“I’ve actually thought about just shutting down.”

He says if diesel prices continue to climb and there is no money left to make hauling freight, he may put the business on hiatus until prices come down.