If consumers say ouch while filling up the family sedan at the gas pump, then truck drivers are screaming with pain.

Diesel fuel costs more than unleaded gas, and big rigs don’t get much more than five to six miles per gallon. Adding salt to the wound is that diesel prices seem to rise a couple of cents each day.

Diesel is what drives the trucking industry.

Slowing down and not idling the engine are two strategies people who drive for a living say they are using to trim their fuel bills.

But even then, fuel surcharges are being initiated, say many in the Napa Valley’s trucking industry.

Instead of lamenting the situation, Biagi Bros. Transportation & Warehousing, has gotten behind the wheel of hybrid technology, which is hitting the trucking industry — similar to what is going on with cars and SUVs.

Biagi has three hybrid bobtail trucks right now that are being used by their subsidiary Vin Lux, which is a partnership with Jackson Family Wines offering direct delivery service for wine in small lots to restaurants.

Biagi has ordered six hybrid 18-wheelers “that should arrive any day,” said Greg Biagi, president of the Napa-based family trucking business.

The hybrid Peterbilt trucks have a battery pack that switches back and forth between the diesel-powered engine and a battery. After starting the engine using diesel, the rig switches over to battery mode; when the battery gets low it goes back to diesel, while the battery charges. Computers on the trucks limit idling to three minutes and will automatically shut off the engine.

These new “green” rigs cost about $140,000, compared to a traditional 18-wheeler at $100,000.

“We hope to get our money back in two years, with the price of fuel the way it is,” Biagi said. “We’re trying to go green, and these hybrids are really looking good for us. We are doing our best to help the environment and to save costs.”

The 80,000-pound hybrid trucks get an estimated 12 miles per gallon — double the traditional six miles per gallon.

“We’re one of the first guys to get the big-rig hybrids,” Biagi said. “If it works like we expect it to, we would like to turn over the entire fleet of 400 trucks within the next five years.”

And those trucks drink a lot of fuel. Biagi estimated each truck burns 30 to 40 gallons a day.

For now, Biagi has had to pass the escalating diesel costs on to the customers. “The customers don’t like it,” Biagi said.

Tough times in trucking

One year ago Dave Taylor’s dump truck rate was $85 per hour.

Taylor’s business, AKA PH Transport, of Napa, has raised his rates $10 to $15 per hour because of skyrocketing diesel prices.

“I have to pass that along to my client. who passes it on to his client. and so on,” Taylor said. “(My) fuel prices in Napa have gone up $1.25 per gallon in the past three months for diesel.”

And Taylor figures he burns 150 to 200 gallons of diesel a week.

“The past two months have been slow. It’s been a horrible year. I feel it is all related to the price of fuel,” Taylor said.

Her said there is not much more he can do to cut costs.

Taylor has already dialed back his driving speed by 5 mph and he doesn’t idle his truck. That saves him $10 to $15 at the end of the day.

Taylor has been researching ways to ease the pain — he’s even looked into running on vegetable oil — but “it just is not feasible ... unless someone can show me differently.”

Fuel is the tool

Todd Walker, co-owner with his father-in-law, of C-Line Express in American Canyon said, “Fuel is a tool we have to use to generate revenue. We can’t make trips shorter, but we can be more efficient.”

Today, compressed natural gas is a viable alternative, which Walker did not find to be the case seven years ago.

“But it is hard to find the retrofit kits and someone who can convert the trucks over,” Walker said.

C-Line has 45 trucks it dispatches in about a 100-mile radius of Napa Valley. About 85 percent of their business is wine.

He is now considering a dual fuel setup — in which the first portion of the power curve comes from diesel and the latter half from compressed natural gas. Walker estimates such a system would improve fuel efficiency by about 25 percent.

Beginning in June, C-Line Express started introducing a weekly fuel surcharge adjustment. The American Canyon firm made a couple of fuel surcharge adjustments this spring.

C-Line uses the Department of Energy’s Web site for figuring its fuel price adjustments.

“The real challenge is to balance the cost competitiveness with the ‘green effect,’” Walker said.

Increased traffic also contributes to a longer drive time, which increased by 15 percent last year.

C-Line trucks are equipped with computers so that speed and stop times can be monitored.

“A year ago we began looking at ways to be green, and in the meantime, fuel has gone crazy. It is going to be a very interesting next 10 to 12 months,” Walker said.

Worst kind of driving

For Greg Kelley, Napa Recycling and Waste Services general manager, who oversees a fleet of 35 garbage trucks in Napa, fuel is his second biggest cost after labor.

Drivers whose trucks idle more than two minutes are asked turn off their engines. This and buying fuel through a broker are two strategies for dealing with skyrocketing diesel prices, Kelly said.

Last week, he estimates diesel cost about $4.60 a gallon; and to make matters worse the garbage trucks get about six miles per gallon.

“Driving house-to-house is the most inefficient kind of driving,” Kelley said.

There is a fuel index adjustment in Napa Recycling contract, but it lags a year behind current prices, Kelley said. In the short term the cost is coming out of the company’s pocket.

Kelley said 25 percent of the garbage trucks run on compressed natural gas, which is cheaper and has a more stable price. He estimated it will cost about $3.40 per gallon.

It costs about $50,000 to convert one garbage truck to compressed natural gas. With current fuel prices, and with the amount of fuel they burn, “it doesn’t take too many years to pay off that cost on the savings of fuel,” he said.

Shortfall due to fuel

In the city of Napa’s Public Works Department, fleet manager Chris Burgeson has had to ask for an increase in his budget to cover the shortfall due to the escalating fuel prices.

“The hardest thing right now is to put a finger on where the prices are going,” Burgeson said.

The city has 183 vehicles that run on unleaded and 104 that burn diesel — and that encompasses everything from fire trucks and dump trucks to police cars.

The city already has a policy to reduce vehicle idling.

Burgeson is scrutinizing the miles driven by city vehicles. The goal is to see if there is a way to further reduce the use of fuel.

He is also looking at the number of vehicles taken home. “It is already small, but we are exploring it further,” Burgeson said.

He is also making sure employees do not put premium gasoline in the fuel tank.

Burgeson is getting ready to add a hybrid to the city’s fleet. “We will do it whenever possible, but it also has to be practical.

“This is where we think things are headed.

Burgeson said the city is looking at hybrids to replace a dump truck, a couple of crew trucks and a vehicle used for trimming trees.

“We stand to save quite a bit of fuel,” said Burgeson, who is looking for some grants to help with the purchase.