The current cost of running a big truck in Western Australia would be almost $11,000 higher than this time last year, according to Australian Bureau of Statistics figures released this week.
WA’s articulated trucks, which travelled an average of about 77,300km in 2004 at a typical efficiency of 55 litres per 100km, are $10,969 more expensive to run on an annual basis at current prices than a year ago.
The figures are based on the average price of $1.06 a litre for diesel in the month of September last year and the average metro cost of almost $1.32 a litre this month so far.
Senior fleet coordinator Gary Gray, at transport logistics company Giacci Bros. Ltd, said although the business could sometimes buy fuel at cheaper prices than those charged at retailers through bulk buying, it was still paying higher prices.
He said that with 12 trucks travelling in the order of 1600km a day for the group, continued higher prices would create an additional annual cost to Giacci Bros. of over $130,000.
The ABS figures show that the annual cost of running WA’s passenger vehicles – which travelled an average of 13,900km last year with a typical efficiency of 11.5L per 100km — is over $720 higher, based on FuelWatchWA figures.
Should prices remain at current levels, rigid trucks, which run on an average of 27.8L in fuel for every 100km, will cost just shy of $1,300 more to run for a year.
CCI chief economist John Nicolaou said the higher fuel price would have an immediate impact on transport companies.
However, only a longer period of higher prices would affect broader prices in the state’s economy.
“The key point is, if it is sustained, then we can expect to see higher prices across a range of goods and services,” he said.
Because of WA’s vast land mass, Mr Nicolaou said the higher fuel price could potentially have a higher impact on businesses in WA than in other states, particularly in regional areas.
While a higher fuel price could have a dampening effect on inflation, as lower disposable income becomes available to households, by far the dominant effect would be supply-side, Mr Nicolaou said.
The Federal Government is currently debating whether a planned increase in fuel excises from January 1 next year will go ahead.
