Recent fuel price hike heralds dicey journeying for Road Freight Association

In light of the recent fuel price hike, the Road Freight Association (RFA) said this is the most extreme in the last decade, adding that it’s causing a thorny balancing act between businesses and consumers.

This comes after both grades of petrol rose by more than R3 per litre, while diesel increased by more than R7 per litre after a fuel levy cut of R3.

The association says this now means operational fuel expenses for diesel users have risen by a daily cost of 32.5%.

The association's CEO, Gavin Kelly: "That depends on the type of route that you drive, the type of vehicles that you have, what the road is like, the types of environments you're in - whether you're in congestion, whether you have an old vehicle, how much fuel it uses.

“That means that all of a sudden, that 35% or 55% of every rand you spend has just seen a 32.5% increase in the price."

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Kelly said this creates a battle of finding the middle ground between transporters and their customers.

"Suddenly, transporters need to find cash to fund the fuel, if they are buying fuel in large amounts [quantities] and are getting a slightly better price; they have to up their deposits because those selling fuel in large amounts are going to want their cash as well.

“So, those deposits will increase, which means cash is going to become very much king, it's going to be tight for transporters."