BALTIMORE — Everyone's wondering how long we'll deal with high gas prices before the state offers relief at the pump.
After watching a trucker spend more than $500 dollars at the pump, drivers say they need help and they need it soon.
"I just put 532 dollars in there for 96 gallons,” said Adam Borawski
Borawski is like thousands of truckers across the state is overwhelmed watching their gas go in while their money goes out...
“Most of the truckers dont even want to talk about it. Especially the owner operator guys, the guys that run their own trucks. They're paying that on their own dime and they don't even want to talk about it. They're pissed every time you see them at the truck stops,” he said.
While the average gas price across the state is $4.27 per gallon in comparison to the $3.50 we've were paying a month ago, truckers worry how long they'll be able to hang on.
“Eventually they're not going to able to make ends meet and they're going to have to quit and not be able to run and that'll cut us down. It's definitely making everything go up so making products cost more because it costs more for us to ship it,” said Borawski.
"The cigarettes going up, the food is going up, everything going up,” Magdy Attia who manages TA Baltimore told WMAR-2 News.
He says woes at the pump for truckers bleeds over into his shop where they normally come in for repairs.
"We're trying to survive right now but its very slow. It's everybody whether its the shop, the mechanics, the drivers, everybody. People don't want to spend money to repair their trucks or fix their truck right because they cant afford the gas price,” said Attia.
So far lawmakers are debating a 30-day gas holiday putting a pause on state gas taxes to provide some assistance for drivers to the tune of 36 cents per gallon for Marylanders.
Senate President Bill Ferguson addressed those efforts Friday.
"We thought it was critical for these next 30 days as things are so uncertain we provide whatever relief we can while we have this budget surplus to back fill those costs,” Ferguson said.
While the worry looms that if the government doesn't find a way to provide some relief now truckers and businesses relying on their services will suffer later.
"I think the government needs to step in. they need to help middle class people. We're the ones getting killed in the middle,” Attia said.
Staffers in Senate President Ferguson’s office tell us the bill cutting state taxes for gas should make it to the Governor Hogan’s desk by Thursday as they debate the details in the meantime.
