Drivers start to cut back on gas as prices rise

[Omaha Steve]

Source: AP

By CHRIS KAHN

NEW YORK (AP) - Soaring gas prices are starting to take a toll on American drivers.

Across the country, people are pumping less into the tank, reversing what had been a steady increase in demand for fuel. For five weeks in a row, they have bought less gas than they did a year ago.

Drivers bought about 2.4 million fewer gallons for the week of April 1, a 3.6 percent drop from last year, according to MasterCard SpendingPulse, which tracks the volume of gas sold at 140,000 service stations nationwide.

The last time Americans cut back so much was in December, when snowstorms forced people to stay home.

Read more: http://apnews.excite.com/article/20110411/D9MHLJ501.html

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In this March 31, 2011 photo, an employee at a Sunoco gas station adjusts the prices for gas on a store sign in Batavia, N.Y. With the price of gas above $3.50 a gallon in all but one state, there are signs that Americans are cutting back on driving, reversing a steady increase in demand for fuel as the economy improves.(AP Photo/David Duprey)

[Denninmi]

1. Well, I certainly am.

Consolidating trips, picking up groceries at lunch or on the way home from work. This weekend, I did a lot of hauling in the yard manually in a garden cart rather than hitching the trailer to the lawn tractor (which isn't a bad idea, I could use to lose a few pounds).

[Sherman A1]

8. Agreed

I am very happy to have purchase a Toyota Yaris in 08, but even with that I am really planning my trips and planning before I start the engine.

[no_hypocrisy]

11. Me too. But y'know something? It's not a problem (at least yet).

I'm forced to sit down and plan my day, my week. I'm more productive. Yeah, I do miss the spontaneity of jumping in the car on a whim, but not that much. I get more done with less. And on one tank of gas a week.

[MadHound]

2. Drivers travel less, truckers are idled, the tourist industry slows to a crawl,

And our economy takes another dive.

And let's not forget that inflation in general has hit a rate of 5.6% since the beginning of the year. Not all of it is due to gas prices either.

Meanwhile our wages are stagnant at best, and for many, declining.

[Sherman A1]

5. Precisely

The price of gas will ripple through the economy both in it's effect on the limited discretionary spending that continues to take place, but also in increased prices.

I am happy that I have a high MPG car for my commute, I wish my wife had less of a lead foot.

[uppityperson]

9. Food costs continue to raise due to transportation costs

[InkAddict]

14. I'll be driving less...got the old pink slip Friday...guess I'll be

hoofing it everywhere now that we're both sacked...

[Chipper Chat]

16. Sorry to hear that. Good luck.

I'm still working at 71 but expect the pink news soon. The owners want "young chicks" to greet our customers (80% male). Sigh.

[RebelOne]

19. I was still working at 71 and got the pink slip

in January of 2010. I was wanting to retire, but hoped to get more money into my 401K. So now I am in forced retirement. There is nowhere I could find another job at my age. So good luck. I hope you can afford to retire. And there is always social security. which I have been collecting since I turned 65. Now I have to cut back on spending since I don't have that salary coming in anymore.

[callous taoboy]

18. You'd never know it at the winery I work at on weekends:

The guy that owns the winery cleared 28,000 bucks last Saturday. There were probably 2,000 people that came through that day.

[Newsjock]

3. So, if we're buying less gas, that means profits will fall

So the oil companies will have to raise prices even more!

Wow, I think I've got the hang of this capitalism thing.

[tridim]

4. So supply is up and demand is down..

And yet prices continue to rise.

Econ 101 is a fucking lie, I want my tuition money back.

[girl gone mad]

7. What did you think the banks were going to do with all of that "free" money?

Lend it to broke Americans?

[AtheistCrusader]

13. Mastercard only captures part of the market.

Also, doesn't figure in speculation.

[Javaman]

22. Oil is traded on the open market. Demand is way up in both china and india.

what we don't use, they certainly do.

So what were you saying?

[The Backlash Cometh]

6. I think this is positive. Don't you?

[Javaman]

21. Please explain? nt

[The Backlash Cometh]

23. People cutting back on superflous trips.

Or, combining errands to maximize the gas they buy,
Or, carpooling,
Or using public transit.

That's me being positive. It doesn't happen often, so don't discourage me.

[Javaman]

24. How am I discouraging you by asking you to explain?

I agree with everything you say. Sheesh.

[fasttense]

10. Rising gas prices is a prescription for destroying any semblance of a recovery.

[AtheistCrusader]

12. Article makes a mistake. We've been consuming less and less oil since 2008.

This is not recent, but you could probably tie it to the commodities rise around the time of the housing bubble failure, and the resulting credit crunch.

[humbled_opinion]

15. It's a hassle and a bunch of BS.....

There is no public transportation where I live, I must drive to get to work and drive to get groceries and this gas price hike has wrecked havoc on my finances. It must be nice to own a hybrid but that is well beyond my price range and I fear that I will have to wait until they are available very used, if you get my meaning. In the mean time the increased transportation costs are coming out of the only funds available right now and that is the food money, so its hot dog stew for the kids and no vacation this summer, even though the vacation is usually just a camping trip up to Cooper Creek in the Georgia Mountains....

I only wonder how long these prices will be like this? Is there any hope that somehow the government would subsidize the less fortunate, I mean what choices do I really have???

Any suggestions?

[Javaman]

20. I wrote a couple of weeks ago...

that the first protests and reactions to the high prices will not come from the inner city but from people who have to make long commutes that don't have the option of public transportation.

[humbled_opinion]

26. Exactly,,,,

I wish I did live in the city, I never owned a car until I was 26 years old living and working in Philadelphia a car was never a requirement.....but out here in the sticks..... I am stuck...

[russspeakeasy]

17. Here's an idea; lets start a war. What? We have three?

What are we fighting for ? Food? Oh, oil? We have been
fighting for this shit for 100 years. Do we not have anyone
smart enough or with the balls to steer us toward an alternate
fuel? Fuck ethanol. You can't take food from the mouths of
people to run SUV's. 
Alternative fuel will cost more? How many fucking lives are we
going to give to Exon?

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

25. Also "Eaters start to cut back on food as prices rise."