"It could come to that because fuel and maintenance costs are hurting," he said.
"Fortunately passenger numbers are pretty steady, but I don't think we could handle three years or more of going over the Saddle Rd. We can keep putting our prices up, but we'd lose passengers.
"It's just horrendous and tough times, especially for transport operators here at the moment."
Sandy Walker, chairman of the Central Area Executive for the Road Transport Association, said after three months, the cost of the closure of State Highway 3 through the Manawatu Gorge has been $4 million.
And Mr Rose said for his buses coping with the haul up and over the Saddle Rd, he's now only getting 2.2 kilometers from a litre of fuel, compared to $2.2 kilometers a litre when the gorge was open.
"We're just lucky we're only paying $1.10 a litre for fuel at the moment, compared to $1.50 a litre in the past," he said.
Mr Walker said increased road users charges, because of the 4.6 extra kilometers transport operators are clocking up going over the Saddle Rd as against the Manawatu Gorge, means operators road user charges are up by $242,000 and rising.
Mr Rose said he'd like to see Horizons Regional Council and Tararua District Council step in and help out to ensure transport operators like him survive.
"The regional council props up the Capital Connection commuter train service between Palmerston North and Wellington, spending thousands, but because we are a small, private business we're left to hang on as best we can," he said.
"Once this service is gone, it will be gone forever. No-one else is likely to step in."
Mr Rose said his is a good service for our community.
"On Monday we had people on destined for Palmerston North Airport and we've even taken people over to court at times," he said. "The trouble is, people forget us once they've used us. This community needs to support the service."
