Rep. Stephens understands the plight of the trucking companies and spoke up, commenting on the high price of diesel.
"Illinois trucking companies and consumers are being hit hard as the price of diesel continues to rise," said Stephens
350,000 Illinoisans are employed by trucking companies. The high cost of fuel drives some trucking companies to cut back, meaning gas stations are selling less diesel. The average price of a gallon of diesel gasoline in Illinois as of May 4 is $5.148, according to AAA, up from $3.129 one year ago. In the City of Chicago, diesel averages $5.281 per gallon.
One out of every 14 Illinois workers is employed by a trucking company, according to Fox News. The high cost of diesel has led some of Illinois' 43,000 trucking companies to cut back, meaning gas station operators are selling less gas. In some parts of Illinois, the number of gallons that stations are selling has dropped by as much as 20%. "For my members, it's made life difficult. They're selling less gallons. And I think in the border areas, where you have taxes that are so much lower in neighboring states such as Missouri, for example, it's much worse. They're selling a lot less gallons," said Josh Sharp, CEO of Illinois Fuel Retail Association. The state and local governments take in more tax revenue as fuel prices increase.
Illinois is one of only seven states in the country that levies a sales tax on top of its per-gallon gasoline tax, according to Pasquesi Sheppard. Illinoisans pay the second-highest gas tax in the country, second only to California.
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