00:00The Zünkler company's transporters are back from their delivery runs across Berlin.
00:05Routes that include regular refueling stops.
00:08That's become a pain point for Michael Zünkler, the company's owner, whose business includes
00:13transporting medical products and refrigerated goods.
00:16His refrigerated trucks all run on diesel.
00:24For my company, this means some 12,000 euros more in fuel costs per month.
00:3025% of our operating costs are diesel costs.
00:34An increase of 40 cents, as is currently the case, that means 12,000 euros more.
00:41I've been on the phone with our customers all week to explain these costs.
00:5085% of freight transport in Germany takes place on the road.
00:54The trucks are often run by medium-sized companies like Zünkler's.
01:00Some companies won't be able to shoulder these price increases if they cannot pass them on
01:04and will therefore close businesses or go bankrupt.
01:07That would have disastrous consequences for the supply of goods to the economy and consumers.
01:11As for companies that can pass on the prices, it will affect consumer prices in the end.
01:19Regular drivers are also annoyed, especially at gas stations where prices have risen steeply.
01:28It's an outrage that people here in Germany are still being ripped off.
01:32So I just fill up somewhere else in Poland or I drive straight through Europe.
01:37But I also hope that maybe strikes against Shell and the likes will have an effect
01:42and that consumers realize they hold power.
01:50I do think that everyone wants to make a profit.
01:53And gasoline is something you depend on if you own a car.
01:57At this independent gas station, they've been changing their prices once a day since the outbreak of the Iran war.
02:03Their competitors, run by large oil companies, chain prices more frequently,
02:07something the German government now plans to restrict.
02:13We are certainly noticing that purchase prices are rising day by day.
02:17And that means we have to raise our sale prices daily as well.
02:21We try to make it as fair as possible, but it's crazy what's going on in the oil market right
02:26now.
02:30Michael Zinclair hopes that a commercial fuel price will be introduced as soon as possible.
02:34And in the short term?
02:38That the fuel price is capped immediately, similar to Hungary or Croatia, where fuel prices have been capped.
02:44I expect immediate action from the government to help transport companies.
02:49Various industry associations are also calling for an investigation into the oil company's pricing policies.
02:56They demand lower taxes on fuels and further relief for small and medium-sized enterprises.
03:01The Ministry of Economic Affairs wants to ask the Federal Cartel Office to oversee the fuel sector more extensively.
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