Mike Rowe Says Truckers He Knows Are Paying $1,200 Per Tank and Aren't Buying the 'Putin Price Hike'
America’s favorite dirty jobs commentator says people he’s had on his television shows are sending him sad videos of themselves at fuel pumps.
“I get videos almost every day now from people we’ve featured on ‘Dirty Jobs’ and on ‘How America Works,'” Mike Rowe, host of both programs, said during an appearance on Fox News’ “Fox & Friends” on Monday.
“They are just sending me videos of them at the gas pump. And some of them are filling up, you know, 18-wheelers. And I’m not kidding you — $1,110, $1,200” for a fillup, Rowe said.
And he said they’re not buying the Biden administration’s claims that it’s all the fault of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Most people view the current inflation in “relative terms,” Rowe said.
“We know it’s awful. [But] when you put $1,200 in your gas tank – and just six months ago it was costing you $600 or $700, the exponential reality of it is starting to sink in. You just can’t walk that back,” he said.
Rowe said the cost of fuel “touches every single thing that matters in this country, from food production and transportation, obviously, all of it.”
Average national diesel fuel costs reached a record $5.37 per gallon on Tuesday, up nearly 5 cents from the previous day, according to AAA. A year ago, diesel averaged $3.087.
Diesel makes things go, from trucks to trains to farm equipment to the crab boats on “Deadliest Catch” — narrated by Rowe — to big ocean vessels. Even a form of diesel engine drives jet planes, although with a differently refined fuel.
So the cost of all goods will go up. It’s already happening.
As recently as a few weeks ago, President Joe Biden continued to blame what he called the “Putin price hikes” for inflation in all areas.
“Your family budget, your ability to fill up your tank, none of it should hinge on whether a dictator declares war and commits genocide a half a world away,” Biden said.
But fuel prices were increasing long before Russia invaded Ukraine, rising from $2.379 per gallon on Jan. 18, 2021 — the week Biden took office — to $3.53 on Feb. 21 of this year — three days before the invasion, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
Asked whether truckers are buying the Biden’s claim that fuel price increases are the fault of Putin, Rowe responded, “The ones I know aren’t.”
“Guy said to me the other day: ‘It’s like falling down the stairs in slow motion, you know,'” he said.
“We know it’s coming. We’re watching it happen. It’s happening in real time,” Rowe said. “And it’s not just diesel, it’s not just gasoline. If you bring it back to food … you have to talk about fertilizer, too. The cost of — there’s no food without fertilizer in this country. The cost of fertilizer is hundreds, hundreds of percent higher than it was.”
He noted that average people are seeing inflation in places other than the gas pump. At restaurants, for instance, the cost of a steak has doubled in a half-year.
High fuel costs present another threat, according to NBC News. In the midst of snags in the world supply chain, the price of diesel might force smaller trucking companies to park their rigs.
It’s a tough time for the everyday working people in America — but Mike Rowe, at least, hasn’t forgotten them.
Truth and Accuracy
We are committed to truth and accuracy in all of our journalism. Read our editorial standards.
