MILLVALE, Pa. — Gas prices are climbing across Western Pennsylvania and local restaurant owners say the increase is cutting into profits and creating difficult decisions for small businesses.
AAA reports gas prices jumped nearly 30 cents in just one week.
Some delivery drivers and food truck owners say the rising costs are becoming harder to manage.
“My drivers are complaining,” said Omer Tuncer, owner of Fornello Pizzeria in Millvale.
Tuncer said just weeks ago, his drivers were paying around $45 to $50 to fill their tanks.
Now, he told Channel 11, some are paying closer to $75 or $80.
“It’s eating into their paychecks,” Tuncer said.
The impact is even greater for food truck owners, especially with diesel prices nearing or above $6 a gallon, according to AAA.
Ashraf Al Kablan, owner of Ash and Kris Kitchen, said it costs up to $200 to fill each of his three food trucks.
“Right now, if someone calls me I have to make sure that I make money,” Al Kablan said. “Sometimes we go to places and we barely make any money.”
Al Kablan said he is now being forced to make major changes to keep the business afloat, including selling one of his trucks.
“I have to take some employees off the work, which is going to end up not paying their bills,” he said.
Tuncer said he has tried to avoid raising prices for customers, but if fuel prices continue to rise, that may soon change.
“I try to keep my prices affordable, but I can only keep it affordable for so long,” he said.
Al Kablan also said the rising cost of fuel recently led one employee from Ambridge to quit because he could no longer afford the commute to work.
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