Transporting gets pricey

J. Miles Cary

Trucks lined up at the Petro truck stop on Watt Road in West Knoxville. The popular stop is outfitted with IdleAire units. The Knoxville-based company’s in-cab power system provides climate control and other amenities while allowing truckers to turn off their engines.

J. Miles Cary

Tractor-trailers arrive and depart the TA truck stop on Watt Road in West Knoxville. The average price of diesel per gallon in Knoxville was $3.73 on Monday, according to AAA of East Tennessee, up about $1.18 from a year ago. Area trucking companies are employing technology to improve mileage and cut their fuel bills.

J. Pat Carter/AP Photo

Russell Stuart fills his boat’s 400-gallon tank in Homestead, Fla., Feb. 27, 2008. Stuart said he had spent $280 on diesel fuel for his truck for a trip to Jacksonville, Fla., and it will cost $1,300 to fill the boat.

Prices for produce such as green onions and lettuce in the same amount of time have increased 35 percent to 40 percent, and some businesses now add a $1 delivery surcharge for delivering produce, said Moore, at the Middlebrook Market and Deli.

Like water cascading down the mountains, increased fuel prices ripple through the economic food chain.

That prompted Moore last year to increase prices for the first time in years, she said.

The national average for a gallon of diesel hit $3.819 on Monday, a record high and about $1.10 higher than a year ago, according to the Oil Price Information Service and AAA. In Knoxville diesel prices averaged $3.733 on Monday, up about $1.18 from a year ago, according to AAA of East Tennessee.

The national average for a gallon of unleaded regular gasoline came close to setting a record on Monday with the national average reaching $3.225, almost 69 cents higher than a year ago and just short of the record high of $3.227 set last May.