Paying The Price; Minding Your Business
S. O'BRIEN: Let's get a check on the CNN gas gauge this morning. If you're buying gas today, expect to pay about $2.88 for a gallon of regular unleaded. That's a small savings from what we were paying just a month ago, $2.90. Two cents there. No big deal. It's a lot more, though, than we were paying at this time last year when a gallon of gas cost $2.11 a year ago. Don't see numbers like that, $2.11, in a really long time. That brings us this morning to our week long series called "Paying the Price in the Heartland." This morning we're taking a look at how the rising cost of fuel is affecting people in Iowa. Today, how independent truckers are hurting. AMERICAN MORNING's Dan Lothian is in Atalissa, Iowa, this morning. Hey, Dan, good morning.</s>LOTHIAN: Good morning. Well, you know, truckers, they spend so much time on the road, they live on the road. And so fuel prices are something that they pay so much attention to. Just to give you a sense of what the going rate is here. The average across the state of Iowa regular $2.74. The mid range is $2.88. Both of those going up a penny since Monday. Diesel, which is what truck drivers use in those 18-wheelers, $2.83 a gallon. That has been pretty much steady since Monday. Now the truck drivers who operate for big companies, those companies can typically absorb the cost of high fuel. But those independent truckers are having a very hard time.</s>LOTHIAN, (voice over): In Brian McDowell's home on 80 stunning acres in Peru (ph), Iowa, it's hard to find anyone who is stressed. But lately, every time he sees off his family . . .</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Bye.</s>BRIAN MCDOWELL: Bye. You be good, OK?</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I will.</s>LOTHIAN: Fires up the engine of his semi and heads out.</s>MCDOWELL: Here we go.</s>LOTHIAN: Stress seems to find him and follow him down the road.</s>MCDOWELL: Because you worry about the money and everything all the time.</s>LOTHIAN: Talk to me about how the gas prices have impacted your bottom line.</s>MCDOWELL: They're killing me.</s>LOTHIAN: McDowell, an independent trucker, says rising fuel costs have cut his profits in half.</s>MCDOWELL: On a good week, say I made $1,000. I'm down to $500 now. A $600 week I might bring home $200 out of it compared to what I was making. I mean, it hurts.</s>LOTHIAN: McDowell receives a lesson in economics every time he pulls up to the pumps.</s>MCDOWELL: Fuel is one of the biggest expenses we have. Fifty- two gallons. But you've just got to put up with it.</s>LOTHIAN: As we bounced along the highway to pick up a load of bricks, McDowell explained why a fuel surcharge customers must pay him doesn't relieve all of his pain.</s>MCDOWELL: But it's only set once a week. So if the fuel surcharge rate is set at, say, $2.76 a gallon fuel on Monday and if fuel jumps to $2.82 on Tuesday . . .</s>LOTHIAN: You have to pay the difference?</s>MCDOWELL: Yes.</s>LOTHIAN: So this veteran trucker is shifting gears to save money. He's cut down on his speed.</s>MCDOWELL: Any time you can save anything, a tenth, two tenths of a mile pickup, translates to dollars in your pocket.</s>LOTHIAN: He's had his engine fine tuned to be more efficient. Will often drive at night. Less wind resistance he says. And then there are the little things.</s>MCDOWELL: Instead of running into a convenience store and buying a bottle of pop or a bottle of water, carry it with you, you know? Any place that you can cut costs and if it isn't absolutely necessarily, don't bother.</s>LOTHIAN: McDowell also tries harder to get more lucrative loads. While hauling bricks to Chicago may not pay all the bills, the bridge span he'll bring back is a cash cow.</s>MCDOWELL: We don't make money until it's delivered.</s>LOTHIAN: Driving to feed his family and determined to keep rolling despite the high costs.</s>MCDOWELL: I'm a very competitive person and I don't like to be forced into anything. So as long as I can keep making it work, nobody's going to force me out of business. I hope.</s>LOTHIAN: McDowell says that he wanted to become a trucker ever since he was 16 because he wanted to be able to drive across the country while getting paid. Well now he has to pay a high price to do something that he loves. Soledad.</s>S. O'BRIEN: A high price that's rising, too. Dan Lothian for us this morning. Dan, thanks. Tomorrow Dan's going to travel from Atalissa to a school in Eldridge, Iowa. The spike in the cost of fuel has cost some teachers in the school district their jobs. Dan's going to tell us why. More of our week long series, "Paying the Price in the Heartland" is tomorrow right here on AMERICAN MORNING. Miles.</s>M. O'BRIEN: Coming up, Andy is "Minding Your Business." Also ahead, battle over baby Brangelina. The winner is -- "People" magazine. They won the rights. Actually, they didn't just win it, they paid big bucks for the rights to publish those photos of the baby in the U.S. We'll tell you about the bidding war and where that money is headed. Stay with us for more AMERICAN MORNING.