Aaron Cahall and Andrew Cannarsa, The Examiner
2008-05-21 07:00:00.0
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BALTIMORE -

Between weddings, proms and the Preakness, last weekend was big for Baltimore-area limousine companies.

But not as big as previous years, thanks to gas prices rapidly approaching $4 a gallon.

“Obviously, we’ve seen a huge difference,” said Joanna Fridinger, owner of The Limo Lady in Baltimore and vice president of the Maryland Limousine Association.

Fridinger’s fleet consists of two Lincoln Town Car sedans and two Lincoln Town Car stretch limousines. The cost to fill the four vehicles with regular gas last weekend? About $350.

And with Fridinger already paying about $1,000 a month to insure her vehicles, plus other operating and maintenance costs, it’s easy to see how transportation-based businesses such as limousine services and moving companies have almost no choice but to pass increasing gas costs on to their customers.

Most limousine companies began instituting fuel surcharges about a year ago, Fridinger said. She’s tried to cap her surcharge at about 10 percent the cost of the ride, but she said even that isn’t enough to truly cover rising fuel costs.

“I hate to nickel-and-dime my clients, but at the end of the day, I’ve got to make something out of it,” Fridinger said.

“I don’t want my business to become a hobby,” Fridinger said, “because a hobby costs you money.”

MOVING OUT OF BUSINESS

Bill Wachter hasn’t seen it this bad.

The president of Savage-based Von Paris Moving and Storage said he’s been in the moving business since the mid-1960s. In that time, the housing market has cooled, then heated back up. Fuel prices have spiked, then returned to normal.

Both have put a crunch on movers. But never, he said, have both problems hit at the same time. The resulting economic conditions have driven decades-old, established movers out of business, and Wachter, declining to provide specifics, said he knows more companies are on the brink.

“I’ve never seen it like this before. Businesses come, businesses go, but it’s been nothing as concentrated as this,” he said.

Last month, Von Paris announced it would buy out 103-year-old Baltimore Storage Co. In recent months, Earle’s Moving and Storage in Annapolis and Whittaker Moving Systems in Hagerstown closed their doors. Each had been in business for several decades, Wachter said.

Von Paris pays its sales staff a mileage allowance for gas, an amount Wachter declined to disclose. But the company’s real costs come in diesel fuel for its moving trucks.

Fuel charges for interstate moves are set by the federal Surface Transportation Board, part of the Department of Transportation. But movers in the state of Maryland are unregulated and can charge whatever they wish for fuel — if the customer is willing to pay it.

“Most of the surcharge lags behind the cost of fuel. I heard in the last week, [diesel] went up 7 cents; that won’t be reflected in the surcharge for a couple weeks,” he said. “The competition is pretty fierce.”

CARRYING THE COST

Michael Goodman sympathizes with his employees.

At Goodman’s Metro Express of Baltimore, his 10 drivers — who provide rush courier service throughout the Baltimore area — earn commission and pay for their own gasoline.

The company completes 200 to 300 deliveries a week, and Goodman said most of his drivers are filling up their vehicles every day. So while the price of gas goes up, the drivers’ take-home money goes down.

“I feel for my guys,” Goodman said.

“You’re between a rock and a hard place,” Goodman said. “The customers don’t want to pay more for the delivery, but the drivers have to pay more for gas.”

Record-high gas prices have even caused some of Goodman’s drivers to quit the business altogether.

“Some of the guys are ahead of the game and have a [hybrid] Prius, but I have lost a few who drive SUVs, because they just can’t afford it,” Goodman said. “You’re paying $80 a day for a tank of gas.”

But not every transportation-based company has been hurt by high gas prices. Nate Siler has been a bike messenger with Baltimore-based Magic Messengers for about 18 months, and while he said the high gas prices haven’t drawn an increase in business, they have drawn the ire of the company’s car-based couriers.

“That’s the first thing they say to us, ‘You’re lucky, you don’t have to pay for gas,’ ” he said. “There’s a trade-off. We’re not paid as much money as they are. But I really think it’s to the point now where it’s balanced out.”

acahall@baltimoreexaminer.com

acannarsa@baltimoreexaminer.com