Soaring Fuel Prices Squeeze China’s Frugal Truckers

Truck drivers in China have been nervously watching diesel prices as they keep climbing. Since the war in Iran started, fuel prices have jumped around 26 percent, hitting about $4.60 per gallon. So drivers have been scrambling to fill up, especially China’s 38 million long-haul truckers. Many of them have a tight budget and live frugally on the road. Now the pain at the pump is forcing some drivers to rethink their lives. Zhuang Wenxi has been driving this truck for over five years, delivering everything from fresh vegetables to heavy industrial machinery. The life of a long-haul trucker can be grueling. Zhuang said he spends about 18 hours a day driving, Before becoming a trucker, he was a street vendor selling fruits and vegetables. Zhuang said the career change was a good move in the early years. But getting a big paying delivery gig has become harder as the industry moved to truck-hailing apps, where shippers set the freight rate and the delivery time. Zhuang said he was paid about $1,700 for a recent delivery that took a week. But as an independent contractor, he covers his own expenses, including fuel, maintenance and insurance. So in order to send home as much money as possible, he trims other costs on the road. So Zhuang converted the back seat into a sleeping area with blankets. This saves him about $14 a night on a hotel room. He also turned the cabin into a kitchen to cook his own meals. He has a custom water tank for washing himself, the dishes and clothes. Tolls on the expressway are one of the biggest expenses for truckers. Zhuang said, depending on the route, he spends anywhere from $500 to more than $1,400 a month on tolls. So he often takes the smaller back roads. Now with the surge in fuel prices, it costs Zhuang more than $580 to fill the tank, quickly shrinking his take-home pay. He said some of his friends are thinking about quitting the industry.