U.K. trucking companies warn that they must pass on to consumers a jump in fuel costs triggered by the war in Ukraine, fanning inflationary pressures.

The Road Haulage Association estimates that the cost of running a truck has risen about 40% in the past 12 months to 56,000 pounds ($73,700) because of a surge in the diesel prices, which the industry “just cannot absorb.”

Truckers were already pushed close to a breaking point with a shortage of skilled drivers and additional paperwork at the border due to Covid-19 and Britain’s exit from the European Union. The surge in operating costs compounds that strain and is likely to further increase the cost of deliveries that is disrupting supply chains.

“Recent rises in fuel costs have the potential to wipe out profit,” RHA Executive Director Rod McKenzie said.

Passing on higher fuel prices to consumers will add to a mounting cost-of-living crisis in the U.K., which the Resolution Foundation expects to be the worst since the 1970s. It’s also likely to alarm the Bank of England, which expects inflation will pass 7.25% this year, more than triple its 2% target.

The average price of diesel, one of the biggest expenses for truckers, rose 3.4% to 158.56 pence per liter ($7.92 a gallon) in the week to March 7, government figures show.

The surge in pump prices reflects turmoil in the crude oil market after the U.S. and U.K. said they’d ban imports from Russia in response to President Vladimir Putin’s decision to invade Ukraine.

Margins for truckers, who drive 120,700 kilometers per year, are typically just 3% and were already strained because of the need to pay drivers more and an increase in the cost of maintenance. That situation will worsen in April with a big increase due in payroll taxes and the national minimum wage.

As well as maintaining an 11-year freeze on fuel duty, the RHA called on the U.K. government to provide a so-called essential user rebate of 15 pence per liter. That’s similar to programs in Spain, France, Italy, Belgium, Hungary and Ireland. It also wants the U.K. to cancel a ban on red diesel planned for the start of April.