Fear is mounting for some trucking companies and Midtown Manhattan commercial businesses as the countdown continues to the implementation of congestion pricing.

The toll for entering Manhattan below 60th Street is slated to start on January 5.

Those in the food and trucking industry warn that congestion pricing will mean higher prices for food and goods in general because of the way the tolls are structured to charge trucks every time they cross into the Central Business District.

Andrew Cancel, a driver for Baldor Specialty Foods, has been delivering for the business for 15 years. The Hunts Point Market-based company uses 80 trucks to supply produce to businesses around the city — and the cost of the congestion pricing toll to those trucks is a big concern.

“Anywhere from 16-20 deliveries a day,” Cancel said, adding that he typically dips in and out of the congestion pricing zone several times during that period.

“So for us, $14.40 for our size vehicles is going to represent hundreds of thousands of dollars for us per year. For our customers, we’re going to try to absorb that,” said Seth Gottlieb, the senior vice president of logistics for Baldor Foods.

But Gottlieb said not everyone can, especially smaller purveyors at Hunts Point. 

He said they already take advantage of off-hours delivery, but they can only do so much.

“We’re lucky to have some customers who can receive their food overnight, such as hospitals and other restaurants that are larger,” Gottlieb said.

But it’s not that easy for other industries. Zach Miller of the Trucking Association of New York, or TANY, which Baldor is a member of, said they’re not ideologically opposed to congestion pricing.  

“Our concern is very specific to the way in which the toll rate was set against commercial vehicles,” Miller said.

Trucks are charged every time they re-enter the zone: large trucks, $21.60, $5.40 overnight; small trucks $14.40, $3.60 overnight.

But there are forces that make it difficult for some industries to take advantage of the lower toll.

“There’s freight elevator operations. Those are strict timelines. There’s a lot of construction job sites which are union, which would mean whole new contract negotiations,” Miller said.

And then there’s just the realities of parking and driving in the city, especially around 60th Street.

“When you need to find a spot and you’re making a turn to look for a spot and you have to go in and out by circumstance,” Gottlieb said.

“We have people that need to dip back into the zone because along their route they have to cross town, and you can’t cross Central Park in a truck,” Miller said.

For the food service industry, it’s especially concerning. Some are predicting prices will soar, including at food banks.

Many signed onto a letter to Gov. Kathy Hochul asking for relief, noting that the Hunts Point market handles over 60% of the food for the city that can only go by truck and that there is no alternative to truck deliveries. The toll is coming at a time when food prices are already high because of inflation. And restaurants like White Horse Tavern could see prices rise even more.

“We get about 45 deliveries a day, everything from food to liquor to linens,” said Richie Romero, a partner of the White Horse Tavern, located in the West Village. “That means we have to add it on to the customer, an extra dollar or two.”

A spokesperson for the governor said in a statement that “by reducing the number of vehicles clogging the streets of Manhattan's central business district, this initiative will make deliveries easier and faster.”

Driver Andrew Cancel is skeptical.

“I don’t think it’s going to make a difference. I think the traffic is going to remain the same,” Cancel said.