We are in Saint-Dizier, in Haute-Marne, on a ten-hectare site where refrigerated hangars alternate with dozens of yellow and blue trucks parked for the weekend, an office space for the headquarters. And in the middle, hidden underground, are two diesel tanks of 55 zero zero liters each.
“Do not trip over the hose,” warns François Corsi, the managing director of Corsi Fit, the company founded by his father in 1977. For the past month, he has been constantly comparing the price of diesel at gas stations to the price offered directly by oil companies. Fuel accounts for a quarter of his expenses, but since his profit margin does not exceed 2/3%, he is at 100/a micro; centime close, but there is no room for negotiation with his suppliers, as they are the ones who set the price.
“We consult the oil companies, we consult two or three or four depending on where we are, and it’s the oil company that tells us ‘Yes, I have product today, it’s this much’. But as soon as things get a little tense, either we are no longer delivered, or we end up paying more when we want to buy in bulk than at the pump,” explains Corsi Fit driver Dimitri.
For a week now, it’s been the opposite. “Refueling at the tanks,” now states the company’s internal messaging system, whereas previously, drivers were encouraged to refuel at gas stations where prices were cheaper than at the tank. Blue cap, black beard, Dimitri returns from a week on the roads of France. “Complicated,” he says! And when asked if there has been any improvement since the “sort of truce”, he replies:
“We can see it because we can fill up at the tanks. There has been a slight improvement. I hope it lasts, but I doubt it. Personally, I’m mostly afraid of diesel price increases and where it will end. It may never go back down. We’ve seen it before with the yellow vests, they lowered it a tiny bit so everyone would quiet down and then they raised it again. No one noticed. And there was the war in Ukraine, same thing! It’s a bit worrying for companies, for consumers, for everyone! I think we’re in the prelude. Before everything comes crashing down. Dimitri, a driver at Corsi Fit.”
Corsi Fit works both for France and internationally: car parts, chemicals, machine tools, food… Until now, it was impossible for road transporters to pass on the diesel price increase to their customers. But now, it is possible, because the contracts, set by law, provide for a variable part based on the diesel price from the previous month. More often, it’s the index set each month by the CNR (National Road Committee) that serves as a reference. Now, it’s up to the customers to pay for the price increase that took place in March, and they are noticing, testifies François Corsi.
“It’s customers who write to me saying ‘but you’re charging for diesel, it’s not possible’ or ‘you’re passing on costs abnormally while the government has granted you aids…’ Listen, I tell them, you talk to us about aids, but have you seen the 30-cent drop in pump prices? No, that doesn’t exist. The 50 million euros that will be distributed among x carriers, who will have applied because they are almost dead, that won’t do me any good.”
The guidelines to access the aids have just arrived, and it’s not for Corsi Fit.
“The cash flow, we had enough of it, we lost some, but we’re not in the red, so we’re not entitled to aids. Oh yes, but we offer you a flash loan at 3.80. I don’t invest at 3.80 so I don’t take the flash loan. Delayed charges? Yes, but it’s a delay, so if it’s to catch up in two weeks or four weeks because someone has raised or lowered the diesel price. What good will that do me?”
In a healthy and enviable situation in a sector where the number of bankruptcies hit a record high last year and where tensions are also rising on the ground, Ludovic recounts from his truck.
“I don’t know what’s going on, but something’s not right. What I fear the most is at night, like diesel and all that, that’s the main thing. Here, there’s the 800 liters! So you can imagine the price! It’s happened to me a couple of times, and you wake up in the morning. I’m going down. There’s a big problem, it’s also social dumping. The problem is that there are too many taxes in France.”
As of the end of February, the State collected 0.16 euros in VAT on each liter of diesel, now it collects 25 cents. A windfall that the government will increasingly struggle to minimize if high prices become entrenched or if the crisis resurfaces.
