PALM BEACH COUNTY, Fla. — The rise in diesel prices is putting the squeeze on truck fleets across South Florida.
"We really don't have a choice when it comes to this; we're getting squeezed on two ends," says Paco Velez, CEO of Feeding South Florida.
WATCH BELOW: Diesel prices squeeze South Florida truck fleets
The organization delivers to food banks from Palm Beach County to the Florida Keys with a fleet of over 30 large tractor-trailers, all running diesel fuel and leaving them trying to meet rising demand for food with the high cost of fueling trucks.
According to GasBuddy, the average price for diesel fuel is $5.80 a gallon.
According to AAA, the average price of diesel in Palm Beach County is $5.88 and $5.83 in Port St. Lucie.
"The first two months of our fiscal year last year, which were July and August, we spent a combined amount of about $75,000 for fuel," Velez says. "And now these two months we're looking at a combined $121,000."
The sharp rise has Feeding South Florida appealing to supporters for help in meeting fuel costs.
"Florida is only 2 cents away from setting the new all-time record," says Patrick DeHaan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy.
He said Russia is a major refiner of diesel fuel and the worldwide price is being inflated by Russia's war with Ukraine.
"Those refinery attacks have been extremely effective in knocking offline Russia's largest refineries," DeHaan said.
GasBuddy estimates that businesses are paying $284 million more per day on diesel than a year ago.
And at Feeding South Florida, it's making the mission tougher.
"We can't just say we can’t do more to meet that need because we can’t get fuel," Velez said.
