Gas Has Gone Way Up (Niota, Liberty: 2010, insurance, school)

[FLORIDA TO NIOTA 2010]

Here in FL the price has gone up today to $3.68 as well. Talk about highway robbery. What a shame.

[marmac]

$3.45 here in central Minnesota.

The same station was $3.23 on Wednesday night..

[gary1958]

Originally Posted by gary1958

Wholesale gas just hit 2.99 and crude oil 116.70,these are new record highs. Reg gas at the pump will average in our area 3.50-3.60 a gal soon.

We just went to 3.59 in Ohio. It took a little longer to jump than usual.
Wholesale gas is down today to-2.96.I was really glad it didn't break the 3.00 mark.If it does the traders will bid it on up.The commodity traders are a lot of the reason it's so high,and the weak dollar.

[hiknapster]

$3.40 here, today.

[Eat]

There's a new Weigels on SR-72 at I-75. They have low grand opening prices. Diesel was only $3.989.

The pump wouldn't go over $75, so I had to run the card twice. It was a $109 fill up. Good thing I wasn't on empty.

[LauraC]

I was watching a show on TV last night (think it was Glenn Beck) where they were talking about how gasoline prices are going to hit us in other ways. For example, they expect the cost will go up to mail/ship a package as UPS, USPS and airlines pass on the cost of fuel. You could say, "Eh, I hardly mail packages, no big deal," but what packages do you receive? Now for me, that may mean I will actually visit local Tennessee stores to shop rather than shop online for books or clothes. Let's go one step further. If online shopping decreases because shipping costs go through the roof, how crowded will the local mall be at Christmas time? People may start to Christmas shop earlier. What business who depend largely on shipping packages will be at risk to go under? Amazon, maybe? How will it impact people who are housebound if they can't afford deliveries?

We may see the return of local produce stands in Tennessee as food they sell from in front of their farm property will be much cheaper than produce shipped to the supermarket from California. It could be a comeback for small farmers.

Where you go on vacation, if you go away on vacation, may change. Community pools and local recreation may change for the better to accommodate people who can no longer afford to get away. Tennessee State Parks may have to step up and think of ways to make their parks even more appealing.

People may rethink moving to Tennessee from Florida or California or other areas of the country where the beach is in their "backyard" if vacations to beach areas become too cost prohibitive due to air fare increases. By that same token, high fuel prices may bring about the end of snowbirds who live half of the year in one place and half of the year in another.

Air pollution in the Smokies might actually decrease as the people visiting the park are more likely to be from Eastern Tennessee and Western North Carolina than road trippers from other states. But what about the tourist industry in Sevier County? They may have to restrategize to attract locals (with their vacation packages), who can't afford to go away on vacation and will be looking for a getaway not too far from home.

Where's the best place to live in a fuel cost prohibitive scenario? The Tennessee rural areas and burbs may be out and the cities like Knoxville, Chattanooga, Memphis and Nashville may become really overcrowded as people will want to live near to their job, shopping and activities. Master planned self-contained communities may be only for retirees (who need nearby shopping and amenities but don't need to live near a job).

Anybody think of anything else?

[Eat]

Glenn Beck is somebody I watched for about two minutes once, before quickly changing the channel. In my opinion, he is one of the worst of the crop of despicable partisan loudmouths that currently plague the cable news channels. If he is just now figuring out that high fuel prices are going to cause other problems, he is way behind the curve.

We have already seen price increases due to transport costs. UPS and the other package services and the major common carriers all have fuel surcharges. UPS's has been in place for a long time. They have even been accused of having artificially low base rates and inflated surcharges. Flour has gone up something like 30%. Beer and soda, two items that are bulky and thus expensive to transport, have seen price spikes in the last year. Food bills in general are noticeably higher.

There was a news report this morning that fuel cost driven increases in food prices are starting to impact world hunger in a bad way. Aid agencies don't have enough money to buy all the food they need due to these cost increases. It is something else the politicians are going to have to grapple with.

Personally, I have felt for some time that housing patterns are going to change because of the increase in fuel prices. In the rural areas, there are a lot of people already living on the margins who commute a long way to work. That commute is getting to be prohibitive. Something has to give.

I do think that less well off people will tend to move closer to employment centers. That will push up prices of housing in the cities and probably hold it down in the suburban and rural areas. I think the suburban areas will be worst hit, while the rural area prices will be buffered by baby boomers moving to retirement homes. I don't think that is going to change much. A lot of folks want that place in the country to retire to. It won't happen in cold weather high tax areas, though, and they will probably see a greater outflow of people and a further decline in prices. I don't see any decline in retirement type property in Tennessee. There are just too many people who want to move here.

I don't see any drop in on line shopping. In fact, I see it increasing. It's a lot cheaper to buy on line, when fuel costs are prohibitive. Not having to drive store to store is quite appealing. The merchandise has to be shipped somewhere, no matter if it is bought locally or on line. Most big on line retailers already have regional warehouses or drop ship the merchandise to their customers, so there is really no fuel cost advantage to shopping locally.

I agree on the local produce stands. My wife bought veggie seedlings yesterday from a lady selling alongside the road on the Oak Ridge Turnpike. The price was about one third of what the Co-oP or the box stores get.

[pioneer]

Here in Wisconsin $3.85 for unleaded Regular.

[LauraC]

Originally Posted by Eat

Glenn Beck is somebody I watched for about two minutes once, before quickly changing the channel. In my opinion, he is one of the worst of the crop of despicable partisan loudmouths that currently plague the cable news channels. .

This wasn't meant to be a commentary pro or against Glenn Beck, merely a mention of what prompted me to think about it for this thread. For the record, his guest was Jimmy Hoffa of the teamsters talking about the impact on the trucking industry.

I think public funding for PBS should stop but that also has nothing to do with this thread.

[jsherman9901]

Originally Posted by Eat

Flour has gone up something like 30%.........
There was a news report this morning that fuel cost driven increases in food prices are starting to impact world hunger in a bad way. Aid agencies don't have enough money to buy all the food they need due to these cost increases. It is something else the politicians are going to have to grapple with.

Last year at this time, bakers were paying less than $50 for a barrel of flour; today, it is about $230 (from an NBC report).

As far as cost increases for food, three forces are at work. First, the increased price of gasoline and diesel for production and transport. Second, the out-of-control commodities speculation going on by individuals and by mutual funds managers. Third, the price of corn and corn-related products (meat, etc.) is skyrocketing because of the push for ethanol. Only an idiot would attempt to use a primary food source as an energy source, especially when it is so inefficient to do so; we have Midwestern congresspersons to thank for that.