Diesel prices not dropping like gas price

We’ve all been watching the price of crude fall in the past couple of weeks. And that’s translating into lower prices at the pumps. But not when it comes to the price of diesel. And it has Ontario truck drivers asking why diesel is still so expensive.

Filling up the tank with diesel still costs Joel Watson close to a thousand dollars: “Gas is going down, but diesel is not going down. I don’t understand what the reason is for that.”

Neither does trucking company owner Rob Zavitz: “The price of oil continues to go down however the price of diesel is very stagnant at the pump.”

Because of stricter refining rules diesel does cost more than gasoline. But since April, the price of gas has dropped 30 cents a litre — the price of diesel only 20.

Twenty cents a litre will save on the fuel surcharge. But consumer’s won’t see any savings at the store.

Consumers have been expecting to see a reduction in prices of goods on the shelves. But so far, those prices haven’t budged. The truck drivers say it’s because of the cost of diesel.

The gap between gas and diesel appears to getting wider. Tuesday’s numbers are $1.05 for gasoline and $1.21 for diesel.

Zavitz: “We expected it to go down more than it has. But unfortunately, the price at the pump hasn’t gotten to where it should be.”

There are 200 thousand trucks travelling Ontario’s highways everyday. Companies that export are doing better than those who don’t–ninety percent of the goods Zavitz hauls go to the U.S. — things such as Ontario flowers and hogs.

The Canadian dollar has dropped with the price of crude, boosting Zavitz cross border business more than 20 per cent.

There is no increase in the number of trucks crossing the border. In fact, the experts say that the dollar would have to stay low for a long time for that to happen.