Gas Prices in your town ???
- Thread starter lethaldose
- Start date
I just traveled from Charleston SC to NW Arkansas and gas prices ranged from $2.39 in Russelville AR and a couple of other places and of course when I get home gas is still anywhere from $2.71 to $2.83. I wrote a letter to the editor of the local paper pointing this out since gas prices here have been about .40/gal more here in Fayetteville/NW Arkansas than they are only 1 hour north (Joplin MO), south (Russelville AR), or west (Tulsa OK) of here. I don't think it costs $4400 (11K gal x's .40) MORE to deliver a truckload of gas to Fayetteville than to one of those other places. The local gas stations in this area are colluding (whether it be direct communication or just by following what the other local stations are doing) and not dropping their prices with the rest of the country. Gas prices on the wholesale markets have fallen between .60 and .70/gal over the last 3 weeks and the stations here have dropped their prices about .15-.20/gal. My letter to the editor was basically calling the local station owners out on their "we don't make any profit on gas sales" BS they're spewing and hopefully will inform people in this area as to just how much they are overpaying. I just don't buy gas here anymore; I buy gas when I leave town and as I'm coming back into town. The local gas stations can charge what they want to, but I don't have to buy from them and if other people will start thinking ahead and filling up when they drive out of the area the station owners might take notice. Nothing ****es me off more than someone looking me in they eye and lying "we don't make ANY profit on gas". BS Tell me you're making .10/gal and I'm fine with that. The problem is they're making .40/gal or MORE and they don't want to tell people that because they know people will start looking elsewhere.
Edited to add.....gasoline is at $1.70/gal on the commodities market right now. Figure in your taxes and delivery and you can figure out how much your local station owner who "doesn't make any money on gas" is actually pulling in. Here gas taxes are between .35-.40/gallon and lets put delivery at .10/gal. That means selling gas at 2.71-.40/gal tax-.10/gal delivery gives me .51/gal profit to the gas station owner and that's using conservative estimates. It's real easy for gas station owners to point the finger and the blame at the big bad oil companies but the oil companies work on a straight margin % (around 9% profit/gal) while the gas station owners are who actually sets the price at the pump. Do you really think they're gonna tell you they're making .50/gal when you come in *****ing about gas prices when they can point the finger at the big bad oil company and give you the "I'm broke too" lie?
Edited to add.....gasoline is at $1.70/gal on the commodities market right now. Figure in your taxes and delivery and you can figure out how much your local station owner who "doesn't make any money on gas" is actually pulling in. Here gas taxes are between .35-.40/gallon and lets put delivery at .10/gal. That means selling gas at 2.71-.40/gal tax-.10/gal delivery gives me .51/gal profit to the gas station owner and that's using conservative estimates. It's real easy for gas station owners to point the finger and the blame at the big bad oil companies but the oil companies work on a straight margin % (around 9% profit/gal) while the gas station owners are who actually sets the price at the pump. Do you really think they're gonna tell you they're making .50/gal when you come in *****ing about gas prices when they can point the finger at the big bad oil company and give you the "I'm broke too" lie?
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90Xjay
New member
Come on, do you really think that the local gas station owner buys his fuel at the cost you see on the commodities market? The current cost(as of last friday) for gasoline distributors to buy here at our refineries was 2.05.
You left a gap between the commodity traders and the retailer.
Refiners produce the product and distributors buy from the refiners and use freight compaies to deliver to the station owners.
I'm not defending the entire industry, but I know alot of retailers who are glad to have the prices down so they don't have to tie up so much cash in inventory.
8500 gallons of gas at 2.75= $23,375.00
8500 gallons of gas at 2.35= $19,975.00
When gas prices are generally rising, station owners put more and more cash into inventory cost, and generally make less per gallon. Each load costing more and more cash to replace.
When gas prices are generally getting lower, station owners are able to recover the cash that they had invested in the higher priced product and can enjoy better margins. However, if the store does not move fuel fast enough, like less then one tanker per week, they can get stuck with higher cost fuel than their competitors can buy 3 days from now, and have to price it below what they paid for it, just to get rid of it to buy the cheaper product. Just like when a car dealer trades for a dozen 4 year old pick-up trucks, then GM offers $5000 off of new trucks the next week. The dealer has more invested in those trade in trucks then what the market(you and me) think they are worth. Sometimes the dealer just has to take the hit and get rid of them at auction.
If you think selling gas is a sure way to riches, try building a gas station, getting permits for underground fuel storage, federal regulations, leak detectors, vapor recovery, MPDs, taxes, employees, inventory.. it's not all fun, esp as an independent.
Sparky-Watts
Banned
Well put, 90. Good to have someone in the know explain it that way. That also goes a long way towards explaining why there aren't any independent station owners around here anymore.
I don't hold it against someone trying to make a living. Gasoline is a luxury, NOT a necessity. What I DON'T like is being told "I'm not making any money on this gas" when I KNOW that's either A: a total lie or B: the guy is an idiot and bought gasoline futures when the price was WAAAAY up there in which case IMO he deserves to lose money because he doesn't know what he's doing. Either way I can't see the station owners here charging .40-50 MORE per gallon than stations that are an hours drive from here. These aren't little privately owned gas stations, they're the big chains. The mom and pop follow whatever the big stations do, and around here for right now it's holding their prices up as long as they can get away with it.
Gas station owners CAN buy gasoline futures on the commodities market just like anyone else can in 42000 gal lots. Historically most have chosen not to relying instead on the old standard "buy from the refinary at today's price" but with the market as of late more and more are starting to try and lock their prices in on the commodities markets.
Bottom line is I saw gas at $2.39-$2.50 all the way from SC to NW Arkansas and when I got here it was $2.80+. That means when I hear "we don't make any money on gas" from the local guys I know they're either full of it or they screwed up and bought too many futures at too high of a price. Either way I'll take my dollars elsewhere. Gas isn't any different than selling anything else. Sometimes you overbuy at the wrong price and end up taking a loss to stay competitive. Unless EVERY station in this area did that the local stations are just padding themselves. They have the right to do it, and I have the right to call them out on it and not buy from them.
90Xjay
New member
Maybe there is a monopoly at the loading racks in your area. I've seen that before. We have two competing pull points within 20 miles of each other.
When one rack goes down with a maintenance issue and is out of commission, the other rack runs the price up.
The refiners own the loading racks in many cases and they know exactly what the cost is to freight in fuel from other racks in the region and many times they keep their cost just right at a break even to keep you from going 100 miles away and trucking it in.
But all of that said, the station owners have no say in it. They just have to buy it as cheap as they can and get resupplied before they run out.
deesweet
New member
From where I live in South Jersey thier are four major oil refineries with-in five miles of my house. But I paid a lot less for gas in Tennesse and Virginia on a recent road trip than here in NJ. I was shocked at how low thier prices were. The further south I went the cheaper the gas.
Chapes1010
New member
its down to $2.49 here in hastings minnesota
eaglescout1
New member
In Wausau, WI the last price I saw was $2.90
90Xjay
New member
Your state taxes on gas are pretty low compared to other states
Isn't Jersey where there is a law forbiding self serve gas?
lethaldose
New member
still 2.59 here GRR i was hoping it would drop at 10 cents a day until it was a buck 50 or summin hahah ... but i can notice a diff when i fill up so every lil bit helps .. plus i heard on the news about new oil supply weither its legit or not i dont know but maybe it will help cool the prices down some
Sparky-Watts
Banned
Didn't know it was a law, but my uncle is from Joisey and he freaked out the first time he flew to Tucson and saw self serve pumps. He didn't even know how to use them!!:lol:
I just filled up on the way home tonight for $2.37 a gallon......8)
TwistedCU
New member
Yeah, the one time I went to Atlantic City there were only full service stations.
90Xjay
New member
Yeah, some kind of quirky deal, I think Jeresy and Oregon or maybe Washington state does not allow self service gas.
Nice, huh?
Wrangl3r93
New member
Filled up for 2.59 today. With my alternator fixed and improved gas mileage on top of lower prices my jeep is really starting to look a lot nicer eh? Not that she wasn't beautiful before.
lethaldose
New member
Wow!
It's 'roundabout 2.37-2.45 in the area... Keeps going DOWN! Maybe I won't break the bank on my trip this weekend
now watch, I get to Virginia, and it's like 3.50! That'd be just my luck...
well if ya jump down south VA its 2.59ish up north i hear its higher
