May 26, 2008

Small business crunched by fuel pricesBy Nick CareyBoston.com

Fort Worth, Texas – Many U.S. small business owners say soaring fuel costs are eating their profits at a time when the economy is already weak, making them more cautious about expanding or hiring.

“In theory we could pass on extra costs with fuel surcharges,” said Vince Puente, part owner of Southwest Office Systems Inc , Mittelnight has his crews work longer days on-site to reduce commuting. But his weekly fuel bill has still risen to $1,000 from $350 in the past year.

Mittelnight said he is now reluctant to hire technicians who live too far away. His technicians drive company trucks home and are on-call for servicing jobs.

“I can’t have people driving too far to service clients because then they’re commuting on my fuel bill,” he said.

Mary Galvan owns GLM DFW Inc, a Dallas company with about 50 employees and annual sales of $20 million that arranges recycling services for large firms nationwide.

She says some prospective employees have demanded higher salaries to offset the cost of driving to work.

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