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Currently, the expense has nearly doubled, climbing to $285 per week, and there’s no sign of it slowing down.
This escalating cost could spell trouble for the young tradesperson.
“I’ve been forced to cut my own salary and steer clear of toll roads whenever possible to ensure I have extra funds available for my business,” he shared with nine.com.au.
“This situation will have significant repercussions not only on my personal life but also across the entire industry.”
The soaring fuel prices are creating substantial financial burdens for tradespeople, particularly those managing small businesses without a steady weekly income.
Many are already contending with surging material costs due to supply chain disruptions caused by the war in the Middle East.
Now petrol has surpassed $2.50 a litre in many locations and diesel, which many tradies’ work vehicles run on, is over $3 a litre in parts of Australia.
The government has suggested Aussies work from home to save cash and conserve fuel but that’s just not an option for tradies.
“How do you expect a whole industry that relies on cars and fuel to provide income to stay at home?” Northam said.
“I’d love to do my part and save fuel for the people that need it most, like the farmers and emergency services, but how am I meant to get a van full of tools to site everyday?”
He suspects the situation get worse before it gets better.
That’s bad news for small businesses that don’t have the money to absorb rising fuel prices for much longer.
Nikki Chamberlain runs Specialized Garage Door, a garage door maintenance and installation business in Perth, and her staff drive between up to eight sites every day.
The business’ fuel bill has exploded by more than 20 per cent in the last few weeks.
“It’s so much money and there’s nothing that we can do to reduce it, we don’t have the option of working from home,” Chamberlain told nine.com.au.
“It’s very scary at the moment for small business owners.”
The small family business is absorbing the cost for the time being with the hopes it will recoup the cash once the crisis has eased.
Chamberlain doesn’t want to push the added cost onto clients because it could hurt the business in the long-term.
But if prices don’t drop soon, she may have no other choice.
”We won’t be the only business that does, everyone will just have to increase their cost of business or their cost of sale,” Chamberlain said.
“Then it will become a case of either people will go elsewhere if they can find cheaper options, or they decide to hold off certain services.”
His full bill has almost doubled in the last few weeks and though he’s “cracking on” for now, the business won’t stay profitable if he doesn’t start charging clients more.
“I do worry,” he told nine.com.au.
“If I were to increase my rates it would impact me considerably, because it’s tough to win jobs without competitively pricing.”
It’s tough to stay competitive on cost at the best of times and he’d prefer not to pass on extra costs to his customers.
But if things don’t let up, he may not have a choice.
Businesses that don’t or can’t find ways around skyrocketing fuel prices could go bust unless the federal or state governments step in.
Some tradies have called for a subsidy or tax break to support the industries hit the hardest by the fuel crisis.
Carpenter and site supervisor Rodrigo Zanchetta, 39, is among them.
“A government subsidy would definitely help people that can’t work from home and financially support their families,” he told nine.com.au.
He used to spend about $200 on fuel each week, now it’s setting him back $300.
Zanchetta has been forced to dip into his savings to cover it and he’s stressed about the long-term financial impacts if the fuel crisis worsens.
Without a subsidy or some other financial support, he fears tradies without stable finances won’t be able to make ends meet.
“As little as it sounds, a couple hundred bucks goes a long way.”
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