The $100 Fill Up!

April 25, 2008

I am glad I live only about 8 blocks from work! I remember the first time it cost me $30 to fill up my car, and then $40 for a tank full, and then more recently $50. My son who lives on the West coast, has now experienced the $75 a tank fill up. And that’s the GOOD NEWS! The bad news is that before we crash the world’s economy with $125 a barrel oil, we’ll probably see it cost $100 to fill up your car. In fact the $100 fill up is here now.

But if you’re driving a big rig you know it takes hundreds of dollars to fill up. And if you’re driving a passenger van pulling a trailer the $100 fill up has already come. Here’s a specific example.

Noel Bosse and Ken Davis watch as the numbers keep spinning at the gas pump — 70 bucks, 80 bucks. Gulp, guzzle, then it stops: $101 for about 25 gallons. The $100 fill-up has arrived in the United States. Bosse and Davis are returning from Las Vegas, Nevada, heading back to their home near Seattle, Washington. They’re pulling a trailer full of Arabian horses in their passenger van. The 1,200-mile trek is costing nearly $1 a mile. Bosse says they’re averaging 200 miles every fill-up, or 10 miles to the gallon.

And just think, we get to add FOOD RATIONING to our life now as well. Is life good or what!

California is home to the nation’s highest gas price, $3.87 for regular unleaded; diesel is pushing $4.43 a gallon, according to Troy Green, with AAA. San Francisco is the most expensive city at $3.97 a gallon. However, a drive around the city shows many stations have jumped over $4.

The national average for regular unleaded is $3.53 and rising daily. Last year at this time, it was $2.86 per gallon. According to AAA, 24 states and the District of Columbia are averaging at or above $3.50 a gallon for regular unleaded. The state with the lowest gas is New Jersey, at $3.34 per gallon.

This years oil spike is going to kill the goose laying those golden eggs!

This year’s record high gas prices — coupled with a slow economy and the mortgage crisis — have had a cascading effect. A person making $9 an hour needs to work nearly seven hours just to pay for 15 gallons at $4 a gallon, according to CNN.com’s gas calculator. In other words, you’re working one day a week just to pay for gas!

How long do you think the economy can handle that? Not long!

Written by Ernie · Filed Under Daily Commentary