The truckers who supply the Ministry of Transport sites with gravel and sand have had enough. They demonstrated on Monday to demand that they be reimbursed for a larger share of their fuel expenses because of soaring prices.
• Read also: Bulk transport: truckers demonstrate Monday across Quebec
• Read also: the bikers of anger
Since January, the liter of diesel has gone from an average of $1.45 to $2.33. For an artisan trucker, who is self-employed, this represents significant additional expenses.
“Artisan truckers were losing up to 60 cents a liter in March. When you put in 300 or 400 liters a day, imagine the shortfall,” said Gaétan Légaré, director general of the National Association of Artisan Truckers (ANCAI).
This is why the ANCAI invited its 5,200 members to demonstrate on Monday in front of the offices of the service centers of the Quebec Ministry of Transport to demand an adjustment of the rates.
In Quebec, a convoy passed by the National Assembly. A letter was also sent to all MPs.
“It is the Ministry of Transport that sets the tariff. The department has a fuel compensation method which is completely unacceptable and which is no longer relevant,” lamented Mr. Légaré, considering that “everyone is driving at a loss”.
As other means of pressure, from May 13, the association will no longer force its truckers to provide a service, despite the obligations in their contracts. She will no longer claim penalties either.
A hundred in Quebec
In Quebec, according to the president of the Chauveau-Québec artisan truckers office, Roland Lepage, a hundred people were present.
“When you have to pay $400 in fuel for $900 of work, you cannot pay half your pay in fuel,” said Mr. Lepage.
The one who started in the field in 2001 does not hide the fact that it is more difficult to be an artisan trucker today. In addition to fuel, vehicle maintenance costs more, as do tires and parts.
$150 per day
A trucker’s hourly rate is calculated by the Ministry of Transport, which takes into account a host of factors, including the price of fuel.
In January, the ANCAI had obtained $8 more per hour for its members. The association’s truckers also obtained, in May, additional compensation of 10% of the price of fuel.
Courtesy picture
Carl Lafond is a bulk trucker in Abitibi-Témiscamingue. The explosion in the price of diesel fuel is causing him to lose at least $150 a day.
“Except that it is 30% compensation which would be more representative of what it costs us,” explained Carl Lafond, from Abitibi-Témiscamingue. The explosion in the price of diesel fuel makes him lose at least $150 a day.
“My season starts once more with these prices, I am not able to say how much we will lose”, noted for his part Donald Guy, trucker in Shawinigan.
ANCAI does not exclude other actions in the coming days.
Discussion
In a scrum, the Minister of Transport, François Bonnardel, claims to be in discussion with truckers for “a few days”.
“I understand their problem. The fuel cost inflation situation is extremely high right now. We have a mechanism that already exists that responds to this problem,” he explained.
Monday’s actions come less than a week following the exit of school transporters, struggling with the same rise in the price of diesel fuel.
The Bus Carriers Federation is currently negotiating with the Ministry of Education, as school bus contracts are usually for five years.
The federation is asking Quebec to reinstate compensation that made it possible to absorb part of the bill.
– With the collaboration of Félix Lacerte-Gauthier
