Colorado small business owner struggles with record diesel prices and energy inflation: "Prices are exorbitant"

The war with Iran has driven diesel prices to an all-time high.

The national average is $6.45 for a gallon of diesel, according to AAA. It's a little cheaper in Colorado at $6.12 a gallon, but just one year ago, that number was $3.56.

With prices nearly doubling, businesses that rely on diesel are hurting.

"We've been watching the gas prices rise with our anxiety," said George Dempsey, owner of Raptor Roll Offs.

Like diesel prices, Dempsey's anxiety is at an all-time high. His small business, Raptor Roll Offs, relies on two diesel trucks to bring dumpsters to and from homes and industrial sites in the Denver metro area.

"We drop the big old dumpster. Everyone fills them up, and then we come back. We take them," Dempsey said.

But diesel prices have increased the costs by almost 30%.

"We're trying not to push that onto our clients. But at the same time, in order to survive, we have to," Dempsey said. "We've tried to do it as little as possible. We've really tried to hope and pray that our raising prices, we could bring those back down for our clients to get back to a bit of a norm, but as we've all kind of felt with inflation and everything going on in the economy, we haven't gotten to that point where we can bring it back down."

Dempsey has raised prices about 10% in the last year and may have to do it again.

"We're holding on as long as we can," Dempsey said. "We can't absorb it all ourselves, and so you have this trickle effect."

It's not just his business's diesel that he's paying for.

"We partner with a lot of remodel companies, and so the prices to get materials to their sites are affected by the diesel, and their prices are raised, then I'm raising my prices, and so everyone is very affected by it from multiple factors on a single job site," Dempsey said.

The trickle ultimately ends with the customer, and Dempsey says more and more can't afford it.

"People decide to handle the trash themselves. Sometimes they put it to the side. Sometimes they just don't do the jobs because it's too expensive," Dempsey said. "What we've seen is a downturn in people wanting to do remodels right now. The prices are exorbitant."

With his industry at a historic low, Dempsey will keep his eye on the prices, praying for relief.

"I think we just here at home want to be able to provide for our families, and we want to be able to thrive. And right now, gas prices are our big problem," Dempsey said. "Nobody's thriving right now this year. We're all struggling. We're all trying to manage through it, hoping and looking up for next year."

Luckily, Dempsey has not had to lay off any staff yet, but says it's been difficult to make payroll lately.

Industries like construction, transportation and agriculture run on diesel, which means that even if Coloradans don't have to gas up their cars with it, they'll be feeling the trickle-down in the cost of everyday goods.