Gas prices in Nova Scotia expected to jump again at midnight

Taxi and truck drivers feeling the sting of recent increases

Anjuli Patil · CBC News 

The Nova Scotia Utility and Review Board is is set to adjust fuel prices for the third time in a week, and those prices are expected to rise.

The UARB invoked its interrupter clause Monday, foreshadowing a price change at midnight. Gas prices have risen 19 cents since last week.

CBC News reporter Robert Jones, who makes gas price predictions for the network, said he expects the price of gas to increase by 10 cents per litre and the price of diesel to increase by 12 cents per litre.

On Monday, the minimum price of regular self-serve gas per litre ranged from 175.3 cents in the Halifax area to 177.2 cents in Cape Breton. The minimum price of diesel per litre ranged from 190.1 cents in the Halifax area to a minimum of 192.1 in Cape Breton.

The prospect of another fuel price increase is not welcome news to the Truckers Association of Nova Scotia, an organization that advocates on behalf of local drivers.

“It’s making it very difficult for us to keep going,” said Andy Weir, the association’s executive director. “The diesel fuel, as we all know, it’s making a big difference in what’s left over at the end of the day for us. It’s getting to the point where a lot of our members are thinking of dropping out. They just can’t handle it.”

Weir said the increasing costs of everything else, like parts, is also making it “harder to survive now.”

“I’m getting phone calls every day now,” he said. “People are stressing completely out. They don’t know what they’re going to do. Most of our trucks only get eight miles per gallon at best,” he said.

Taxi drivers stressed

Angie Herman, one of the owners of Casino Taxi, said rising fuel costs are “very scary for our drivers.”

She said metered rates in Halifax have not been changed or adjusted in more than 10 years. She said a typical driver currently has to work six days a week “just to survive.”

She said an average driver probably uses 30 litres a day before they even get a fare in the car.

Herman said it is estimated drivers with the company are already paying $150 more per month for fuel with the recent increases, and that doesn’t factor in the expected increase tonight.

Casino Taxi has asked the city to revisit fares, Herman said.

“They’re devastated, they’re very stressed. They’re coming in and talking to us …  we have a lot of drivers who have left the industry. So we have lost probably about 100 drivers since COVID has taken place, and with the reduced revenue and higher expenses, it has just not been as financially viable.”

Russia-Ukraine factor

Herman said about 60 drivers in Casino Taxi’s fleet have hybrid vehicles and only one driver has an electric vehicle.

The cost to fill a tank of gas in Nova Scotia has been hitting record highs as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine puts more pressure on oil prices.

The UARB invoked the interrupter clause for just diesel on March 1, gas prices jumped 10 cents on Friday, then the UARB invoked the interrupter clause again Saturday, increasing gas and diesel prices by nine cents.

The clause is used to respond to sudden spikes, up or down, in petroleum product prices. The board considers using the interrupter when prices shift up or down by six to eight cents.