PEI trucking rates go up -- but not enough, say owner-ops
SUMMERSIDE, P.E.I. -- Prince Edward Island is on the verge of giving a group of truckers a boost in pay, but the Island owner-ops don't think it'll be enough to cover the soaring cost of fuel. The PEI Truckers Association, which represents about 170 independent truckers contacted to provincial departments and government-controlled services, has been negotiating with the Province over a fuel surcharge. The government has approved a raise, but the Treasury Department still has to determine the amount. Donnie Corrigan, executive director of the PEITA, says he has an idea of what the truckers will get, but in all likelihood it won't be enough. "We have an idea of what to expect. And it's not what we'd like to see," he told TodaysTrucking.com. "Although I have to say the province is in some fiscal straits as well here." Any private work around the province is also benchmarked from what the government pays, Corrigan says. Corrigan says that for now he's not interested in getting a standard rate hike for his members. But he thinks it's only fair that the Province cover the recent jump in diesel price, which has gone up 35 cents in the last month alone. "What we're asking isn't driven by rates. We're just interested in recouping our fuel and that it reflects the fluctuation of the recent prices," he says.