At the pump

[Sean]

US $5.46 equivalent here today...

[Rick]

Still $2.99 $2.94 if ya want to drive to Monticello I'll check Pine Bluff tomorrow

[Guinevere]

Guin

What's your problem with discounts for cash?

Because it's really the same thing as a penalty/surcharge for using a credit (or debit) card, and that is illegal under Massachusetts law. And I never carry cash around, so it's annoying to pull up at the pump and then see the advertised price is a "cash" price (because half of them don't make that distinction clear, another violation of state law), and have to either leave, or pay the higher price.

[Guinevere]

The same $3.299 Jar paid -- no-name, they pump it for you, and no stupid "discount" for cash.

Most places along my route into Boston yesterday were 3.399 +/- $0.05 and up, some with a $.10 cash discount. I saw one other place for 3.299 (also no-name, and they pump it), and there was a line to get a pump.

Let me guess: little place on 3A in Quincy, just off the Fore River bridge.

Yup, one of several options in that area

[Jarlaxle]

Note: last time I was in that area, the one on the Artery by the tank farm is run by a real dickhead!

[Guinevere]

Oh I never go there, you're right, they are completely rude.

[Crackpot]

You know cvs charge the point of sale for the benefit of utilizing their services right? What is the problem of passing the savings on to the customer? (This btw is the same way cc's give you discounts on your purchase or miles etc...). It's all varying degrees of theater over money being charged to consumers for alternative sales methods.

BTW I never use cash for gas either I figure it's worth the convenience but I don't begrudge those who want to be more frugal with their money.

BTW II why don't you have a problem with the 5-7% fee cc's charge retailers for the benefit of processing purchases through their cards?

[MajGenl.Meade]

$2.94 if ya want to drive to Monticello

That's weird! I'd just tell 'em every time, "Yup - I'm going to Monticello, so fill 'er up" ..... even if I was going some place else!

oh

[Sue U]

You should be embarrassed, lying to some poor gas station attendant like that.

[Rick]

$2.94 if ya want to drive to Monticello

That's weird! I'd just tell 'em every time, "Yup - I'm going to Monticello, so fill 'er up" ..... even if I was going some place else!

oh

Both Pine Bluff and Monticello have Wally Worlds and they have Murphy stations which will take and extra .10 of with a gift card or .15 with a Wally World credit card.

Oh the advantages of living in a large metropolis

[Lord Jim]

Oh the advantages of living in a large metropolis

I'll bet you even have a Golden Corral....

[Rick]

No, a Chilis in PB but no Golden Corral

[liberty]

$2.94 if ya want to drive to Monticello

That's weird! I'd just tell 'em every time, "Yup - I'm going to Monticello, so fill 'er up" ..... even if I was going some place else!

oh

Both Pine Bluff and Monticello have Wally Worlds and they have Murphy stations which will take and extra .10 of with a gift card or .15 with a Wally World credit card.

Oh the advantages of living in a large metropolis

At least Pine bluff has an open access four lane highway that is more than can be said for some of the metropolitan areas in southern Arkansas and northern Louisiana.

[dgs49]

Dear Econoline person: Could you provide any hard numbers (rather than percentages)? I understand that "[One's] mileage may vary."

[Lord Jim]

I have a question, (well a couple, actually) for our overseas participants who are paying these outrageous gas prices, (the Brits, the Aussies, and of course the faux American living in South Africa)

In your countries, are diesel prices comparable? Also, is there some type of two tiered system that gives a break in the pricing to commercial delivery vehicles? (Obviously, since the market price of a barrel of oil isn't any different for you then it is here, and refining costs are comparable, the difference must be accounted for by confiscatory tax levels, which the government could raise or lower.)

The reason I ask is, because if this isn't the case, then you guys must also be paying way more for any products that are delivered to brick and mortar retail stores, from produce to TV set, then we are. (and probably also considerably more even for things that are ordered online and home delivered since the trucks that work for whatever your equivalents of UPS and Fed Ex are, obviously also require gasoline.)

Are you guys paying four bucks for a head of lettuce?

[Daisy]

Diesel is more expensive than unleaded here.

133.7p per litre for deisel, 126.6p per litre for unleaded.

Broken down this is how a litre of deisel is priced at 137.9p

57.95p Fuel Duty
51.97p cost of product
22.98p VAT (yes we are taxed twice on fuel)
5p retailer

We're getting well and truly bummed.

[Lord Jim]

Down another nick to $3.75...

Long Run:

I still think that a prolonged time period with gas at this level or lower will do more to jolt the economy in a positive direction than anything the Fed or Congress does.

Amen...

If we could get the nationwide gas price at the pump down to $2.50 a gallon or less, and have it stabilize at that level, (increasing only as much as the overall inflation rate) that alone could probably knock two points off the unemployment rate, and add one to the GDP...

Doing far more to both reduce the annual deficit and the overall debt as a percentage of GDP than any politically realistic combination of budget cuts, tax increases, and monetary policy could possibly do...

Daze:

Diesel is more expensive than unleaded here.

That's even worse, since the trucks that transport products to the market run primarily on diesel...

I'm sure I don't have to explain to anyone here, (except probably rube, who like as not won't get it anyway) that transport costs figure prominently in the end user price to consumers, for all products....

So you're not just paying a ridiculous amount for being able to use your car to get back and forth from work, or to take a little drive in the country...(which would be bad enough)

You're also paying an additional premium for just about every single product you purchase...(unless you're buying something like online software, or other digital products that don't need to be physically delivered.)

We're getting well and truly bummed.

Yes, I should say so...

They're not even bothering to use any lubricant to make the experience marginally less painful...

[Jarlaxle]

News flash: diesel is more expensive than gas HERE, too. (IIRC, it's also taxed more.) I paid $3.199 for gas, and haven't seen diesel for less than $3.749!

[Econoline]

Dear Econoline person: Could you provide any hard numbers (rather than percentages)? I understand that "[One's] mileage may vary."

Sure. Here's what I said before:

The van I drive now (a 2004 Dodge Sprinter with a 5-cyl.diesel/5-spd.auto) is larger than my previous van (a 1993 ford Econoline with a 6-cyl.gas/4-spd.auto) and gets ~80-100% better mileage in city driving and ~40-50% better mileage on the highway.

...and here are the numbers: I used to get 9-11 mpg in heavy (stop-and-go) city driving with the Ford; under the same circumstances I now get 18-20 mpg. I used to get 16-17 mpg on the highway; now I get 23-25 on the highway. (BTW, from 2007 to 2013 the only engine you could get in the Sprinter was a V6 diesel; I understand that those got considerably worse mileage [20 mpg at best, from what I hear]. For 2014 in addition to the V6 they are offering a 4-cyl. diesel with a 7-speed automatic, and I would expect those to do even better than my 5-cyl./5-speed.)

As for the price differential between gas and diesel...gas prices continue to drop, diesel seems to be holding steady, so the difference now seems to be around 20% at many stations. When I can, I fuel up in Indiana; trucks with a DOT# are exempt from the state sales tax there, which translates to >20¢ discount at the pump. (E.g., right now in Hammond, IN at a Speedway station I often use, unleaded regular is $2.989 [ holy shit!!! haven't seen that for a LONG time!], truck diesel is $3.579, and auto diesel is $3.799; I've seen diesel for as little as $3.679 here in Illinois.)

[Rick]

$2.889 this evening