SARATOGA COUNTY — Dozens of tractor-trailer drivers rallied against the high cost of fuel Thursday, massing for a moving caravan from Exit 17 to Exit 16 of the Northway.

Organizer Charles Claburn said filling a 300-gallon tank with diesel at $5 a gallon is hurting truckers whether they’re going across the county or cross-country.

Before the convoy left Moreau, Claburn, director of Truckers and Citizens United New York, speculated that fewer truckers had shown up than expected for the 10-mile trek because of the high cost of fuel.

“I’ve had calls from some of the truckers who asked if they can drive their cars or pickups rather than their rigs because it’s too expensive,” he said. “The price of diesel jumped 10 cents overnight.”

Bill Sutton, of Batavia, said he spent $70,200 on fuel last year when the average cost per gallon of diesel was $3. He expects to spend close to double that total this year. His truck gets about 5.5 miles to the gallon.

“I’ve worked more weekends already this year than I did the last five years together,” the 43-year-old Sutton said. “I was in Florida last weekend. I’m working harder than ever trying to keep up with the bills.”

He said he bought his tractor and hauls trailers for Path Truck Lines which has several offices, including one in Schuylerville.

“I’ll be going to Schuylerville this afternoon and then to Fort Miller to pick up an oversized load of concrete for delivery first thing in the morning near Rochester.”

He said he’s been an owner/operator for 10 years, and when he bought his truck diesel was about $1 a gallon.

“A truck costs $137,000 and I have a mortgage on this,” he said. “Fuel is costing me $3,000 a week. A new set of tires is $4,500. I change my own oil every five weeks and that’s $175 because it takes 10 gallons of oil.”

He said shops charge about $250 to change the oil on a rig. His front tires last 150,000 miles and his back tires about 320,000 miles.

“I change the front tires every fall at a cost of about $850 plus installation,” he said. “If fuel goes to $6 a gallon, I don’t think I can hang on.”

Claburn said he sold his own tractor and trailer last year, when the price of fuel went above $2.50.

“I saw the writing on the wall when it hit $2.50,” he said. “The day the guy drove it off my lot, the price was $2.57.”

He said he went from being an independent driver for Wal-Mart to an employee of a Fort Ann trucking firm after he sold his rig.

Vincent Gramuglia, president of Countryside Management Corp. in Fultonville, said his company supplies fuel to four truck stops in New York and one in Vermont.

“New York is the highest-taxed state in the country, and as the price of fuel goes up, so does the tax,” he said. “The price has gone crazy and Albany is to blame for part of that.”

John Holland, of Clifton Park, has been driving trucks long and short distances for 56 years.

“I’m 72 and I started driving at 16,” he said Thursday afternoon. “When I started, the price of fuel was 18 to 20 cents a gallon.”

He said he retired 10 years ago but got bored and started driving part-time for Albany Air Cargo in Latham.

“I do about three one-day trips a week, usually to Boston and back,” he said. “The cost of fuel last week totaled $1,200.”

He said he’s glad to be an employee and not the guy who gets the bills for fuel to run the trucks.

Sutton said he’s cut out all unnecessary expenses when he’s on the road. A cupboard and small refrigerator now hold meals and drinks that can be purchased or made at home before he leaves on a trip.

“I used to look forward to stopping, getting out and having a good meal every day. Now I’d say I average one restaurant meal a week and the rest are eaten here in the cab,” Sutton said.