美国国家公共电台 NPR--The national average price for diesel is up 75% from a year ago

The national average price for diesel¹ is up 75% from a year ago

Transcript²

It now costs more than $5.50 to buy diesel. The surging price of the fuel is making everything even more expensive, and that's posing a major threat to the economy.

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

Much of the U.S. economy runs on diesel fuel. That's what powers those giant trucks on the highways. And truckers are saying they are struggling with diesel costs. NPR's Brittany Cronin reports the surging price of fuel is making everything even more expensive, posing a threat to the economy.

BRITTANY CRONIN, BYLINE³: If you thought gas prices were high, thank your lucky stars you're not paying for diesel.

ERIC JAMMER: I can pretty much count on setting on fire five to seven hundred dollars a day, minimum.

CRONIN: That's Eric Jammer. He owns and operates a truck out of Houston, Texas. An 18-wheeler is a really big truck, and Jammer's has 22 wheels. He hauls the big stuff - military and construction equipment. He once hauled an Apache helicopter. His issue isn't how much fuel he needs, it's how costly⁴ it's become.

JAMMER: I've joked with a number of drivers, we basically are driving to pay our diesel bill right now.

CRONIN: The national average price for diesel is up 75% from a year ago - at more than $5.50 a gallon. That's a much bigger jump than gas prices in the same period. Jammer has all kinds of fixed⁵ costs - monthly payments for his truck and trailer, insurance, permitting, broker⁶ fees. And that's before adding in the cost of fuel.

JAMMER: After everyone gets their piece of the pie and you look at what's left, there's either nothing or very little for you.

CRONIN: Jammer says this isn't just about him. Trucking touches almost everything in this country.

JAMMER: Because everything in your house was on a truck at some point in time.

CRONIN: Whether it came off a cargo⁷ ship, a railway or sat in a warehouse⁸, trucks are the connective tissue that move 70% of all freight in the U.S. But the cost to move that freight is rising, in part because of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The U.S. is also exporting more diesel to Europe to reduce its reliance on Russian fuel.

Bob Costello, chief economist⁹ with the American Trucking Association, says these rising fuel costs don't just land on truckers.

BOB COSTELLO: Ultimately, you and I, as consumers, will see this on the store shelves in the price of the products.

CRONIN: There's no doubt rising fuel costs are contributing to higher retail¹⁰ prices, but just how much is hard to quantify. And it's not just trucking. Diesel is a crucial input¹¹ in industrial business. It keeps factories humming, construction moving and it helps grow our food.

MARK DARRINGTON: Diesel plays a role in everything that we do on the farm.

CRONIN: Mark Darrington and his sons own Big D Farms in Declo, Idaho. They grow potatoes, sugar beets¹², wheat. If you've had Coors or Budweiser, you may have tasted their malt barley¹³. Darrington has about 70,000 gallons of diesel stored in tanks on his property for his tractors and other farm equipment. He bought the fuel in December, when it was about $2 a gallon cheaper than it is now.

DARRINGTON: Yes. But when that's gone, it's gone, and it has to be replaced.

CRONIN: Darrington is already paying double what he did last year for fertilizer. He says there's no way he and other farmers can eat the increased cost of fuel.

DARRINGTON: My increased costs of production have got to be passed on to the consumer. Otherwise, literally¹⁴, the countryside will shut down.

CRONIN: For his part, Texas trucker Eric Jammer says he's just trying to hold on and outlast¹⁵ the price hike. He thinks he can make it to the end of the year at current prices.

JAMMER: As long as we don't get to California diesel pricing in Texas. You know, if it gets that bad in Texas, then we're done.

CRONIN: If you thought the supply chain problems were bad before, Jammer says just wait until store shelves are empty because trucks can't afford to move the product.

Brittney Cronin, NPR News.

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1 diesel   

n.柴油发动机，内燃机

参考例句：

• We experimented with diesel engines to drive the pumps.我们试着用柴油机来带动水泵。
• My tractor operates on diesel oil.我的那台拖拉机用柴油开动。

2 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

3 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

4 costly   

adj.昂贵的，价值高的，豪华的

参考例句：

• It must be very costly to keep up a house like this.维修这么一幢房子一定很昂贵。
• This dictionary is very useful,only it is a bit costly.这本词典很有用，左不过贵了些。

5 fixed   

adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的

参考例句：

• Have you two fixed on a date for the wedding yet?你们俩选定婚期了吗？
• Once the aim is fixed,we should not change it arbitrarily.目标一旦确定，我们就不应该随意改变。

6 broker   

n.中间人，经纪人；v.作为中间人来安排

参考例句：

• He baited the broker by promises of higher commissions.他答应给更高的佣金来引诱那位经纪人。
• I'm a real estate broker.我是不动产经纪人。

7 cargo   

n.(一只船或一架飞机运载的)货物

参考例句：

• The ship has a cargo of about 200 ton.这条船大约有200吨的货物。
• A lot of people discharged the cargo from a ship.许多人从船上卸下货物。

8 warehouse   

n.仓库；vt.存入仓库

参考例句：

• We freighted the goods to the warehouse by truck.我们用卡车把货物运到仓库。
• The manager wants to clear off the old stocks in the warehouse.经理想把仓库里积压的存货处理掉。

9 economist   

n.经济学家，经济专家，节俭的人

参考例句：

• He cast a professional economist's eyes on the problem.他以经济学行家的眼光审视这个问题。
• He's an economist who thinks he knows all the answers.他是个经济学家，自以为什么都懂。

10 retail   

v./n.零售；adv.以零售价格

参考例句：

• In this shop they retail tobacco and sweets.这家铺子零售香烟和糖果。
• These shoes retail at 10 yuan a pair.这些鞋子零卖10元一双。

11 input   

n.输入(物)；投入；vt.把(数据等)输入计算机

参考例句：

• I will forever be grateful for his considerable input.我将永远感激他的大量投入。
• All this information had to be input onto the computer.所有这些信息都必须输入计算机。

12 beets   

甜菜( beet的名词复数 )； 甜菜根； （因愤怒、难堪或觉得热而）脸红

参考例句：

• Beets are Hank's favorite vegetable. 甜菜根是汉克最爱吃的蔬菜。
• In this enlargement, barley, alfalfa, and sugar beets can be differentiated. 在这张放大的照片上，大麦，苜蓿和甜菜都能被区分开。

13 barley   

n.大麦，大麦粒

参考例句：

• They looked out across the fields of waving barley.他们朝田里望去,只见大麦随风摇摆。
• He cropped several acres with barley.他种了几英亩大麦。

14 literally   

adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实

参考例句：

• He translated the passage literally.他逐字逐句地翻译这段文字。
• Sometimes she would not sit down till she was literally faint.有时候，她不走到真正要昏厥了，决不肯坐下来。

15 outlast   

v.较…耐久

参考例句：

• The great use of life is to spend it doing something that will outlast it.人生的充分利用就是为争取比人生更长久的东西而度过一生。
• These naturally dried flowers will outlast a bouquet of fresh blooms.这些自然风干的花会比一束鲜花更加持久。