Local Diesel Prices

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John Galt said:
Service rates are tied to the price of fuel; it's just a cost of doing business.
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Nice to be able to pass the cost along to us poor consumers who's real wages have stagnated while cost like diesel and other fuels have sky rocketed. Always love the comparision of Canada to Europe too. If you look at their transportation costs or just their cost of living compared to their wages, life isn't so bad for them. At least they have options. Here in Canada, I don't give a damn who turns the screw or why. It is clear that it is always the average person - the consumer - who gets screwed. Now when the average person wants to turn the screw back and earn a bit more money, they are called greedy or socialists. WTH?
 
canucksafari said:
Nice to be able to pass the cost along to us poor consumers who's real wages have stagnated while cost like diesel and other fuels have sky rocketed. ...
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Charging the going rate to customers who can well afford it, gives me the margin to charge a lot less or even nothing to customers who can't afford it. Being self employed, I can charge what I want to as the situation dictates. For example if I do a job for a charitable organization, I donate the labor cost back to the local organization. I'm a socialist at the local level and a conservative at the national level.
 
big business my friend.... the bigger you get the more the government will back your decisions...

as long as we have a government that is unaccountable for the decisions they make the more the little guy will get burnt...
 
John Galt said:
Charging the going rate to customers who can well afford it, gives me the margin to charge a lot less or even nothing to customers who can't afford it. Being self employed, I can charge what I want to as the situation dictates. For example if I do a job for a charitable organization, I donate the labor cost back to the local organization. I'm a socialist at the local level and a conservative at the national level.
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Well said... I am self employed and operate more or less the same way with my clients. Of course, one cannot be self employed if one cannot discern what to charge to whom ;)

But the fact remains the high cost of fuel and our taxation system is significantly affecting the livelihood of the population, especially those at or around the 'official' poverty level and have seen their diposable income basically vanish in a matter of just a few years. And we are not talking just a small proprtion of the poulation here, folks. We're talking about the working poor, the many who to juggle making payments on their houses, those who cannot get loans to renovate and those who must drive older and more economical vehicles just to survive ;).

It would be interesting to find out what Canadians' true assets are, once what they owe is taken away. I'm quite sure it would be much, much less than what we're so adamantly being told we own (remember that bank commercial?), many of which would probably end up bankrupt if all their loans were called in suddenly.

So in conclusion, the cost of fuel is no laughing matter. High costs of fuel affects us all and the sooner people realize the prices are controlled by a handful of speculators and a large part of the end cost is taxes imposed upon us by governments, the sooner real chage will happen, but I'm not holding my breath. Just look at our canadiates for re-election, if I could, I'd vote 'none of the above' to force them all to come up with better policies, or to fire them all. Now THAT would be true democracy!!!
 
i have often wondered why there is no box that says "none of the above"
 
crushers said:
umm, is that going to fill the desire for REAL change?
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...of course it won't. In North America 70% of the income taxes are paid by 20% of the taxpayers. Those 20% don't want change, and the 70% of taxes they pay makes them feel entitled to tell the government how to spend it. They are very per$ua$ive, and politicians are often gullible and corrupt. Winning a popularity contest doesn't necessarily confer the intelligence to lead wisely.

Change that? Good luck!!! The founding fathers of both countries set up the system so that the democratic rabble couldn't take over.
 
John Galt said:
Fuel taxes across Canada range from 15% to 30%. What should they tax instead of fuel to get the tax revenue to meet budgets?
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If the fuel tax actually went to road repair and not general revenue then I wouldn't have such a problem with it.

Let's stay on topic though guys as this is a "fuel prices" thread and not a bash the government thread (even though we'd all like to do that).
 
Posting comparative fuel prices is inane. That info is freely available to anyone who knows how to use Google. What's the point?

The cause and effect of fuel pricing is far more interesting. Discussing the government's role is definitely on topic, as is anything else that relates to fuel price.
 
83bj60 said:
The point is to know where to tank up!!!

Also, it's useful to notice how we have, incredibly, accepted the rise to $1.39 as being a 'reasonable price' when last year at the same time it averaged about 89 cents...

I hope you guys were able to increase your rates without suffering too much of a loss in service calls...
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John Galt said:
"Where" is easy; key lock at a bulk fuel distributor. The one I use is frequented by long haul Arctic truckers, top quality Cdn refined fuel from Cdn oil wells. I get one bill per month at an average price always below retail pump.

Service rates are tied to the price of fuel; it's just a cost of doing business.
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I am with Mr. Galt on the card lock, the one I have a contract with will e-mail you the invoice for every fill so I can tell you that today I paid $1.035/l for diesel. We also charge in the neighborhood of $1.10/km and $140/hr for travel time and routinely turn down business...
 
John Galt said:
In Canada we can check the box for the Green Party to fill that "none of the above" role.

Fuel taxes across Canada range from 15% to 30%. What should they tax instead of fuel to get the tax revenue to meet budgets?
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Firstly, I would like to strongly disagree with your figures. Where in Canada is fuel taxed to only 15%? That's just sales tax in many jurisdictions!

But what you seem to not realize is that road and fuel taxes tax EVERYONE EQUALLY which has a net effect of hitting the poor much harder than the rich. Now if these taxes went directly to the roads, it could be argued that it is fair, just as one could argue that it is fair to have user fees for those who use the medicare system. Yeah, right! Say that all those using the system already!!!

But what is truly outrageous is that these taxes are NOT even used for the roads, but diverted into general funding. Not only is it undemocratic, but it also has the exact opposite effect of our socially integreating income tax system. In other words, it's a disguised way to force the poor to contribute more than they can alctually afford, which keeps them poor.

In any case, road and fuel taxes should only go into the roads, using that money for general funding is nothing less than perverse and scandalous. You want to fund the government's general operation, assuming you actually want its services, accept its wasteful ways and involvement in our private lives? That's what income tax is for.
 
John Galt said:
...of course it won't. In North America 70% of the income taxes are paid by 20% of the taxpayers. Those 20% don't want change, and the 70% of taxes they pay makes them feel entitled to tell the government how to spend it. They are very per$ua$ive, and politicians are often gullible and corrupt. Winning a popularity contest doesn't necessarily confer the intelligence to lead wisely.

Change that? Good luck!!! The founding fathers of both countries set up the system so that the democratic rabble couldn't take over.
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Very sensible analysis and unfortunately so true, as the ideals get perverted by those who hold the purse (like the so-called green shift of our politicians who behind our backs would clobber us with tax evasion if we dared to go green with our won fuel ;))...

Just like Recycling, it's OK to recycle as long as it profits the system, but just you try to recycle for yourself!!! (did you know that taking out stuff from a recycling bin is considered STEALING?!!!)
 
jasonmt said:
I am with Mr. Galt on the card lock, the one I have a contract with will e-mail you the invoice for every fill so I can tell you that today I paid $1.035/l for diesel. We also charge in the neighborhood of $1.10/km and $140/hr for travel time and routinely turn down business...
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Well you are obviously privileged if you can charge that kind of money for travel time... You must be in a line of work where the cost of service is so large that this kind of travel time is a mere fraction of the value of the service you render... Definitely not typical of the average user, which proves yet again that fuel taxes are totally undemocratic not only because they hit those who can least afford it, but because they are diverted for general funding.

We've had our area lose its native population to the rich semi retired suburbanites because not only taxes rose to an unberable level for many, but also because it became costlier to even get to work. I'm still there because I switched to a kind of work a good portion of which I can do from home. But from those who work in trades or for companies, many have gone away closer to big cities in the past few years. Not too many locals anymore...
 
83bj60 said:
Well you are obviously privileged if you can charge that kind of money for travel time... You must be in a line of work where the cost of service is so large that this kind of travel time is a mere fraction of the value of the service you render... Definitely not typical of the average user, which proves yet again that fuel taxes are totally undemocratic not only because they hit those who can least afford it, but because they are diverted for general funding.

We've had our area lose its native population to the rich semi retired suburbanites because not only taxes rose to an unberable level for many, but also because it became costlier to even get to work. I'm still there because I switched to a kind of work a good portion of which I can do from home. But from those who work in trades or for companies, many have gone away closer to big cities in the past few years. Not too many locals anymore...
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The rates quoted are pretty typical for the line of work I am in but then again I am not in business for the fun of it. There are many cases where the travel bill can be more than 50% of our billing to a particular client but that is the nature of the beast when you are a specialized company. The last job I did had about $3500 of travel/mileage costs out of a bill of just over $6000 (and it was for an insurance company so I felt no guilt at all...).

I long ago recognized that you are either poor and getting poorer or the inverse and decided which side of the fence I was going to be on.
 
83bj60 said:
Firstly, I would like to strongly disagree with your figures. Where in Canada is fuel taxed to only 15%? That's just sales tax in many jurisdictions!
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OK, my mistake, taxes are 13% of the price of diesel in Yukon, the lowest in Canada.
http://www.fuelfocus.nrcan.gc.ca/prov_map_e.cfm?ProvCode=YT#PageTop

But what you seem to not realize is that road and fuel taxes tax EVERYONE EQUALLY which has a net effect of hitting the poor much harder than the rich.
Click to expand...

Bullfudge, if they can't afford it they don't have to drive. Like you say it taxes everyone equally, that's the way it should be.

Now if these taxes went directly to the roads, it could be argued that it is fair, just as one could argue that it is fair to have user fees for those who use the medicare system. Yeah, right! Say that all those using the system already!!!

But what is truly outrageous is that these taxes are NOT even used for the roads, but diverted into general funding. Not only is it undemocratic, but it also has the exact opposite effect of our socially integreating income tax system. In other words, it's a disguised way to force the poor to contribute more than they can alctually afford, which keeps them poor.

In any case, road and fuel taxes should only go into the roads, using that money for general funding is nothing less than perverse and scandalous. You want to fund the government's general operation, assuming you actually want its services, accept its wasteful ways and involvement in our private lives? That's what income tax is for.
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People are poor because they don't spend money wisely, tough sh!t !!! Nobody said it was going to be easy. Maybe if they'd stayed in school they might have learned something useful.

If you don't like the tax spending talk with your MP candidates, it's election time, they might listen.
 
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Diesel at the Abbotsford Sumas Way Husky was 127.9 on Friday. Diesel at the Penticton Main Street Husky was 139.9.

BTW, do the fuel companies think people are really that stupid not to figure out that 139.9 is pretty much 140.0. Maybe some people are that stupid.
 
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One more time guys, government bashing is fine in chat, this is diesel prices NOT where taxes go or who's getting screwed by the government.
On track or I delete posts (and I'll start with some of my own that were heading the wrong direction).
 
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