Get Ready To Pay Four Bucks A Gallon

Some of those looters have been looting for food and water. Personally, I think that is justified. Not right, but justified. The ones who are stealing TVs, cars, etc, are totally wrong.

Just wait until the contractors pour in to rebuild/refurbish as the have done in Florida in the past.

Spike

1965 Ford Mustang fastback 2+2 A Code 289 C4 Trac-Lok Vintage Burgundy w/Black Standard Interior; Vintage 40 16" rims w/BF Goodrich Comp T/A gForce Radial 225/50ZR16 KDWS skins; surround sound audio-video.

Gad what fools these morons be.... Children are obscene but should not be heard Give me a peperoni pizza... or give me a calzone!

Spike

1965 Ford Mustang fastback 2+2 A Code 289 C4 Trac-Lok Vintage Burgundy w/Black Standard Interior; Vintage 40 16" rims w/BF Goodrich Comp T/A gForce Radial 225/50ZR16 KDWS skins; surround sound audio-video.

Gad what fools these morons be.... Children are obscene but should not be heard Give me a peperoni pizza... or give me a calzone!

Actually, if you want gasoline, you'll pay whatever the stations charge. THAT is reality 101.

Dave

So one owner you heard on a radio is extrapolated into everyone. Great.

Flying cars! Brilliant!

"Bye, honey. I'm going out to test the hybrid Mustang's 0 to 60 time. I'll be back in a about six hours."

I own a gas station. In general, I have tanks large enough so that I get approximately one delivery of about 10,000 gallons a week. I got gas yesterday. A week ago, I paid approximately $2.75 for regular. That price is based on the "rack price" at the loading terminal. I pay about 3 cents over rack. Some pay more, some pay less (depending on volume). Today, I got a load of gas and MY cost off the tanker truck was about $3.25. So that's a 50 cent change in just 7 days.

So all this talk about "price gouging" is a bit confusing. While I'm sure there are people out there who are taking advantage of the situation, most station owners are doing what I do...they take the price of gas as it came off the truck, add their usual margin, and change their prices. Gasoline is a commodity. You can't charge an arm and a leg over the competition without going out of business. If there are people taking advantage of this situation, I hope they are dealt with harshly.

Cheers,

Things are done considerably differently, around here (Iowa). We have 6 stations in this town of 15,000. When one changes it's price, they all follow suit within about 3 hours. The price has nothing to do with the cost when the tanks were filled, since the price changes sometimes 3 or 4 times a day. The one's that I've asked said that they get a call from their distributors, telling them what they have to charge.

Dave

Heh... Not 0-60, 60 foot.

Hybrids will cover the first 60 feet on electric-only surprisingly fast, which is part of why they make excellent stop-and-go city cars.

Wait... If I understand you correctly, you price your gas based on what YOU had to pay, not on what you EXPECT to pay for the NEXT shipment?

That must be Business 100.

dwight

Is it possible these 6 stations are being supplied by the same distributor?

While I may be in error, I was led to believe the major stations (ie Exxon vs 7/11) are somewhat controlled by the corporation. That the owners are told how much they are permitted to charge over what they pay.

According to the latest news reports, while there were complaints of ripping off the consumers, the investigations have revealed that it is not near as widespread as people reported.

Spike

1965 Ford Mustang fastback 2+2 A Code 289 C4 Trac-Lok Vintage Burgundy w/Black Standard Interior; Vintage 40 16" rims w/BF Goodrich Comp T/A gForce Radial 225/50ZR16 KDWS skins; surround sound audio-video.

Gad what fools these morons be.... Children are obscene but should not be heard Give me a peperoni pizza... or give me a calzone!

Just as VWs used to do from a standing start. You could just about make it across the intersection before you had your doors blown off by a Pinto.... Spike

1965 Ford Mustang fastback 2+2 A Code 289 C4 Trac-Lok Vintage Burgundy w/Black Standard Interior; Vintage 40 16" rims w/BF Goodrich Comp T/A gForce Radial 225/50ZR16 KDWS skins; surround sound audio-video.

Gad what fools these morons be.... Children are obscene but should not be heard Give me a peperoni pizza... or give me a calzone!

Yes, I take the price of the gas that comes off the truck and add my margin and that's the price. I'm not in the commodities speculation business so I make the same % on a gallon of gas whether it's a dollar or five dollars a gallon. I'm not sure I understand your Business 100 comment. *shrug*

A lot of stations these days are owned by the refiners or by corporations who bundle together 20+ stations. The days of the independent "mom and pop" shop are numbered as it is just not possible to compete against companies who can purchase in amounts one or two orders of magnitude greater. Their cost is often 10-20 cents/gallon cheaper. So they can sell gas at your COST and still make a tidy profit. So if all the stations in this fellow's town are owned by a major refiner, it's not surprising at all that their prices change on a daily basis and almost in unison. The major refiners all have similar costs to produce their product. It's a commodity.

Cheers,

So, you don't change the price of the gas in your tanks as the market swings? It stays the same? How often do you get gas shipments? Do you average out the price?

I'm only asking because most stations these days change their prices several times a day without getting new deliveries in between the price changes. They're charging more for existing gas when the market goes up.

You don't do that?

Best, doc

If you'll read my original message, you'll see exactly what I do. But I'll repeat:

I set the price when I take delivery of a truckload of fuel. That price is based on what I paid for THAT load of gas per gallon plus my margin. No, I don't change the prices on a daily basis. Why? The gas in the ground was bought at a fixed price. My cost for that fuel doesn't change based on market fluctuations before my next delivery so why should I change my price? I buy about 10,000 gallons a week and the price changes when I receive each load (unless MY cost hasn't changed).

Again, I'm not in the business of speculating on commodities prices. If you want to play that game, you can do it a lot more easily than taking on all the other risks associated with owning a gas station. Personally, I think the guys that ratchet up prices the instant there is a spike so they can double or triple their margins until their next shipment are a bit slimy. But I guess I'm just old fashioned that way...

Cheers,

No. Until recently, they were divided between two dist's, one 50 miles to the west and the other, 30 miles to the east. In the past year, Murphy (walmart), and HyVee(grocery) have opened new stations, and I don't know who their distributors are.

I'm not suggesting that these stations are ripping anyone off. I'm not well enough informed on their pricing policies to make that determination. My comment was only in response to Ritz's post, as prices change freely around here(up and down), with no tankers in sight. BTW, the price dropped .04 today, to $2.95.9.

Dave