Companies With Fleets Could Pass Costs To Customers To Ease Pain At The Pump
BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- Some businesses that own fleets of cars are struggling with the high gas prices.
"Costs go up," iDrive Driving Academy Owner Shaheryar Husain said. "Prices go up. It's inevitable."
iDrive Driving Academy in Baltimore County has been struggling since the pandemic began. The rising price of gas isn't helping.
"It's something we don't want to do, but we're being forced at this point," Husain said.
iDrive and its other locations have about 20 cars on the road about 12 hours a day.
"We have to fill up every day," Husain said. "Twelve hours a day empties out a tank and so that means we're paying almost double for our gas prices at this point."
The owner said he's also had trouble getting new cars for the business because of supply chain issues. He now fears he'll have to raise prices.
"Either we find an alternative, which really isn't readily available, hybrid vehicles have a wait list at this point," Husain said. "Or, we just raise prices until we can get our hands on other vehicles."
Another company that does a lot of driving is Michael & Sons. There are 62 cars at the company's Baltimore location.
"We are fortunate enough at this time not to have to deal with (higher gas prices) nor pass that along to our valued customers," Leon Lamont with Michael & Sons said.
Michael & Sons has its own gas tank and a locked-in price for its gas that is cheaper than the national average, but the company is still being affected by higher prices from its suppliers.
"I was just speaking with our controller," Lamont said. "He showed me an invoice for one of our carriers where they already put a line in there that says, 'Temporary service charge' and we believe that is probably going to be for fuel."