LANGLEY, B.C. — The B.C. Trucking Association (BCTA) is calling on its members to increase freight rates to help offset the rising cost of fuel.

In a newsletter to members, the association pointed out crude oil and diesel prices are expected to continue rising throughout May and may even exceed the price of fuel during the war in Iraq in 2003. The association also insists rising diesel prices are often a precursor to increased trucking bankruptcies.

"Carriers that fail to adjust their rates and/or fuel surcharges risk financial failure," the newsletter says. "Shippers that fail to heed requests for higher rates risk losing the trucking services that they rely on."

The association points out the rise in the price of diesel over the past six months can increase a carrier’s operating costs by up to 10 per cent.

"BCTA cannot tell members how to run their businesses, but carriers who continue to provide services to shippers that do not recognize the relationship between compensatory rates and service quality and safety will harm the efforts of all carriers to adjust rates to where they should be given current fuel prices," the association says.

The BCTA has published a matrix to help carriers determine what they should charge carriers based on the diesel price of the day. It also suggests renegotiating contracts with shippers to allow for rate increases to cover the rising cost of diesel or to add a fuel surcharge or rate increase across the board, based on the association’s matrix.

The association has also made a sample letter to shippers available which explains the reasoning for the rate increase. For more information, call the BCTA at 604-888-5319.