With 16 employees and a business with a £1 million annual turnover, Mr Cyril Cusack has found this year's diesel price increases eating into his profit margin as he struggles to remain competitive.
Based at Shannon, Co Clare, he has made the airport his livelihood - as it has expanded so has his company. Married to a garda and with two children, he started as a one-man operator 12 years ago. Now, under the name of Tradaree Transport, he has a fleet of 16 lorries and vans, including four articulated trucks.
The success of the business depends on volume, he says.
If a lorry is "turned twice" in the one day - meaning that it has taken loads to two different destinations - "then we are doing OK".
His business also depends on being adaptable. He has regular orders carrying computers, medical equipment, refrigeration parts and other goods. However, an aircraft with a cargo intended for Dublin might get diverted to Shannon, or a courier operator might not be able to get into Dublin, and he has to be able to respond to the demand for a haulier to transport the goods to Dublin.
"My phone can go off to say that an Airbus has landed in Shannon. It should have landed in Dublin but it landed in Shannon due to fog. I have to transport the contents of the plane by road."
The rises in the price of diesel make last year's profit margin of 10 per cent a distant memory.
His company uses up to 30,000 litres of diesel a month, meaning that he is now incurring an extra monthly charge of up to £2,400 since the beginning of the year, with prices set to increase further in the short term.
"It is going up by about 5p between now and Saturday. We are just wondering when it is going to stop. The Government has one of the highest duties on diesel in the European Community."
He says he cannot pass on that charge to the air freight agents who hire his services. They are reluctant to accept higher charges because of the knock-on effect and he has unlicensed hauliers snapping at his heels, ready to jump in with a cheaper service.