Fuel Price is Killin Me

[Dixiedawg]

A few years ago we had a travel trailer and on a return trip from the east coast we paid almost $4 for gasoline. We decided to sell our RV's & TV. After three years we realized how much we missed the RV lifestyle and we are now back to enjoying this great lifestyle. We will continue to RV even with the high price of fuel, and like everyone else, we will make some adjustments to maintain the lifestyle.
As someone has already said, commodity prices are increasing and they will climb faster as the price of fuel goes up. The price of grain has more than doubled in the last 4-5 years, and we are now seeing those increased costs in the market basket of consumed goods. This country has not built a refinery in over 30 years, and today we are importing almost 15% of our gasoline that is refined in other countries. I totally agree with using our own natural resources, but until we build more refining capacity we will not have any leverage on OPEC. This country will find and develop an alternative fuel source (wind & natural gas will help bridge the gap), but until that happens we're dependent on foreign resources. And yes, if all that money we spend on foreign oil was spent here we could easily pay off our national debt.

[RickW]

We are not fulltimers but we do go to Yellowstone every year among other trips. In 2008 when fuel shot up we did some quick calculating to figure out how much more the trip would cost us. I figured it would be about $400 more in fuel than the previous year (3000 miles round trip). We felt the trip was worth the additional $400 and made the trip. To off set the cost we slowed down. The improved fuel mileage shaved that number down closer to $325. If we had opted to eat in more and out less I bet we would have shaved off quite a bit more. Before I put pencil to paper I was thinking it was going to cost quite a bit more for fuel.

Oil has been trading in the low $90 for the past few weeks. Yesterday it actually closed just under $90. The $.23 jump in Diesel is a station/dealer issue. I had read some time ago that Wednesdays are typically the best day to purchase fuel and that Fridays/Weekends are the worst. Some stations will raise their price for the weekend to make a few extra bucks.

As for the $75 limit it is both the station and the Credit Card companies. Basically the credit card companies are willing to guarantee payment up to $75 for a transaction that does not have a singed receipt. So the station is not willing to risk more than $75 per transaction. Now if you go in to the counter where you have to sign the receipt you will now be able to pump until full. I have recently noticed Home Depot is doing the same thing. Any transaction under $50 is not requiring a signature but transactions over $50 are.

[richfaa]

Yes we should tap our unused resources..however . when suggested we hear... well not in my city or county or State. Run that pipeline anywhere as long as it is in someone else's area. We need more off shore drilling..but not off our shore... do it off someone else's shore. Don't interfere with the moose, elk, caribou, deer, or any of our wildlife. Drill more, run pip lines, off shore drill..but do it somewhere else.


BTW.. We were also told by several CC companies that it was the CC policy on CC fuel limits and the CC is the responsible paying party. In fact we note stations that as a extra precaution will not accept the CC at the pump and you have to go inside to run the card and provide ID . That is OK with me as it could be my stolen CC that they catch.

[RCN.Stoker]

From what I have read in industry trade papers once the prices of petroleum fuels reach a certain level the infrastructure needed to support hydrogen fuel production and distribution becomes an economically feasible to build. I expect that tax incentives and subsidies will hasten this along. The more alternative fueled vehicles including full or part time electrics on the road the reduced demand for petroleum. Although there is some level of producer control over oil prices as well as speculative pressures which make higher prices "sticky", by and large supply and demand work to set the barrel and eventually the pump price. As soon as the demand decreases expect prices to tumble as all the OPEC producers start to pump more to attempt to retain earnings levels. The OPEC governments are just people. Once they get used to a certain income level they hate to take any cuts.

For those who may not know, unlike OPEC, Canada does not control the amount of oil exported to any country. The provinces are the resource owners who establish maximum pumping rates only to protect the oil reservoirs from be damaged by excess extraction.

[kylec2]

I have no intentions of changing my lifestyle due to fuel prices. Three years ago I quit smoking and with the money I save every day I am set for life, not to mention I am likely to live a little longer.

[CamillaMichael]

I filled our truck a couple of days ago at a Shell station...in the past, they have had a fifty dollar limit (then shut off), then a seventy five dollar limit (...), and now a one hundred dollar limit before the pump shuts down. Like others, when the pump shut down at one hundred dollars during this last trip, I reset the machine to finish filling the tank...got a whole two gallons more! I admit to being angry in the past at this stupidity, and still am when I am in a hurry, but mostly I have to laugh at what appears to be the three stooges school of business management.

[CORattler]

Interesting perspectives in this thread. That's why I love this site. I learn new stuff all the time. I even find out that sometimes I'm wrong (I know, I know, it was hard for me to believe at first too ....)

[Waynem]

I was wrong [s]once[/s].....er, never mind, I was just mistaken!

[Champ_49]

We just started fulltiming this last May. This will not change our goal to stay fulltiming, but it may change how often I move from one site to another. Just another little set back is all. But it wouldn't be life if it was all easy. Actually staying in one spot longer means you meet more people and make more friends. So its ok, we will survive.

Dave

[richfaa]

The trip we are planning to the East coast and the New England States worked out to @ 5000 miles or @ 500 gallons of Diesel. We averaged 2.799 per gallon on the trip down to Florida in Oct 2010. The price was yesterday 3.43 per gallon

500 gallons at 2.799 = 1395 500 gallons at 5.00 per gallon = 2500.00 diff of 1105.00 for fuel alone... We do Rv on a budget and a extra 1105.00 is not in it. Unless the mouse gives us some serious hours in Feb/march and April the trip is off... We can handle 3.00 a gal.

[junglejim]

To answer the OP question, we fulltime and cannot stop or slow down due to I travel for work.
However the company I work for gives per diems for gas and CG fees and such. They are very good to me(and others). When prices go up the per diem goes up as much as they can afford to help offset the extra expense.

As fas as the $75 CC limit, I go inside and "open the card" ,go outside pump till I am full, then go in and pay.I hate to hit the limit,hang up, reset and just to pump another 2 gallons.

And as RickW stated about Home Depot about sigs, they are not the only ones. Many folks probably just don't hit the limit to require a sig. One example is Mickey D's requires a sig after a purchase of $25 or more.

[8e3k0]

North American fuel has always been plentiful and at a low cost comparing to other countries of equivalent living standards.
Fuel prices will always work on a supply and demand situation. As disel consumption lowers and reserves start to replenish, the prices will stabilize, or lower. Just drive around the large truck stops at night and note the number of trucks that consume that diesel. RVing fuel consumption is very minor. Kinda glad we live in a country that has and produces oil and natuarl gas; that revenue off sets and keeps our health care costs down individually to all Canadians.

[indy roadrunner]

You know everybody has a finger point to blame for the high prices, import, drilling, gas stations, refrinery, oil companies, but after listening to the talking heads on CNBC I tend to want to place a lot of blame on stock speculators. Seems money hungry stock purchasers keep uping the price on future oil prices. There is always someone out there willing to pay a higher price for the stock and with that up goes the price of fuel oil.
JMO So lets all go out and beat up a stock broker.

[richfaa]

Oil is a commodity.. If you google that and see how trading in Commodities works it will be educational.

[Sky]

In Connecticut you can go from one town/city to another and the price will differ. There is no set standard.If you live in a poorer county or section of the state
the price is less so it appears that someone is setting the price according to income of the area it is being sold in. I am sure it occurs in all the states.Taxes set by the state have a lot to do with the pricees too. If heading south I will not fill up in Ct. but once we hit New Jersey I fill up because it far less there.
Everybody has brought up reasons why we pay so much for fuel and many of the reasons,I'm sure never occured to most of us, but together they make a lot of sense and gives us a better understanding of why the price of gas/diesel is the price it is. To me it's a new insight however I still have to question that bugs the heck our of me and that is: WHY is the profit from these fuel companies so damn high????? We all know that some of the profits go into certain pockets etc. etc.
but even with that being considered don't you think that with such exorbitant profits that there might be a hint of over charging?

[08UltraRider]

quote:Originally posted by richfaa

Oil is a commodity.. If you google that and see how trading in Commodities works it will be educational.

I agree... Goes hand in hand with supply and demand... World demand lowers supply thus price goes up... China's booming economy is consuming an enormous amount of oil helping boost the demand...

Now besides those lousy tires we can be mad at them for fuel prices too...

[Fire1]

Great answers and thoughts. Ok I get the picture the Scooter will get more use during the week and weekends are for Rams, Monty and the family. Damn the cost enjoy life and let the good times roll.

Look out NC the trip is back on the map.