Fuel prices

[creativepart]

Originally Posted by Wayne M

Until then, we pay the current price, or we stop traveling.

Absolutely. It's a balancing act and we all have to determine for ourselves our willingness to continue traveling at whatever the going rate is at present.

[Marine359]

Just a lifestyle issue. Is paying one or two thousand more for fuel this year going to change my life? Not much. But discontinuing our rv lifestyle will definitely change my life.

[bigb]

One thing good about the Sprinter based RV, fuel is not really a big concern at 15 or more MPG and a 26 gallon tank. Of course one repair at Mercedes could wipe that out and then some.

[wyocamper]

Originally Posted by creativepart

At this point both the EU and the US have not banned gas and oil sales from Russia. I believe that Canada has done so. I have read from the Wall Street Journal that this amounts to $700 million a day in hard currency reserves paid to Russia. At least that was the number before the actual start of the invasion.

If the US and the EU were to halt buying Russian oil and gas the price would certainly jump instantly worldwide. By how much? Double or triple... or more?

Saudi Arabia and other OPEC exporters could make up the difference without batting an eye. I think there are pretty serious diplomatic efforts underway to get them on board with increasing output to cover a boycott of Russian oil. Venezuela probably won't want to go along, and maybe a couple others.

According to the American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers Assc. Russian imports account for about 3% of total US imports: https://www.afpm.org/sites/default/f...m%20Russia.pdf. Not insignificant but not overwhelming either. But expect retailers to raise pump prices as much as they can get away with, based simply on the premise that everyone expects prices to go up.

[Cake sniffer]

I usually charge $4.20- $5.50 a gallon for gas at my Mtn gas station. I remind my dad this every time he complains about paying $3.00 or more a gallon. I can’t remember the last time I was personally paying less than $3.00 a gallon at any station on the west coast. High gas prices are just what we are used to, so it’s nothing new, just normal at this point and past….10-15 years.

We’ve been traveling the east for the last…..8-9 months and we still consider gas out east here to be cheap. Personally it’s a moot point for me owning an RV that gets 8 miles a gallon considering my 2 ranch trucks get 11 miles a gallon empty.

But to answer the question of the OP I’d say $11-13 would make me slow down and maybe travel in a different style.

[Wayne M]

How much of that $4.20-$5.50 is profit, and how much was profit at $3.50?

[Cake sniffer]

I don’t think we’ve ever charged less than $4.00 We try and keep our margin between 50cents and a dollar. We are a small outpost located between the Marble,Russian and trinity Wildernesses. We’re the only station within an hours drive and support for our operations is limited and costs for our community service is high. That being said we have plenty of RV spots a dump and fill��.

Gas stations in town usually have a margin of 10-15 cents very rarely 20 cents. Prices fluctuate daily and hourly on the wholesale market, it’s not uncommon to see a 5 or more cent drop or rise daily. When peeps see two stations across from each other with a 10-20 cent difference it’s mainly because the one with the higher price bought fuel at a higher price so he cannot lower his margin to meet his competitors whom bought fuel at the lower price. Otherwise they would be giving it away. They get locked into that price when ordering the fuel even if it goes up or down the next day before they receive delivery of that fuel. It’s really a gamble for the station. We try to buy at a low and ask our wholesalers how they feel the market is fluctuating. We are a low sales volume station, yet buy it by the tanker still. Most folks don’t realize that gas stations do not make money, it’s the convenience store attached to the station that makes the cake.

[Wyatt]

Oddly enough, I’ve been watching our local Bay Area, (CA), gas stations and they haven’t raised prices at all, even though initially when Ukraine was invaded people lined up like they did for toilet paper during COVID. That said, we were already at $5.29 a gallon for Supreme, $4.99 for regular.

[Marine359]

California gas tax is 67 cents/gal. Far higher than any other state. That said, I thought we’d be paying more once we got here last week. Filled up at $4.49/gal and prices have not gone up due to Russia yet.

[Chaffeekid]

At 10.00 per gallon I draw the line….and start walking a lot.

[Wyatt]

Update. Since I posted prices weren’t going up in the Bay Area (above), they’ve been steadily going up .10 cents a day EVERY DAY. We’re now at $5.69 for supreme…

[MadMaxWinny]

I just saw $7.10/gal (regular) in Palm Springs this morning. Probably a winger. The station closer to me was $5.50 yesterday.

[Lowdie24]

Today on Vancouver Island fuel prices (after conversions) are listed at;

Regular gas $5.81 USD per US gal.
Diesel is averaging $5.25 USD per US gal.

It would appear our price is running somewhat higher than current posted cost of a gallon of regular gas in California ~ $5.07 USD, which is usually the case

Regardless the price is definitely hard to take, as it obviously impacts on virtually every part of the cost of living. Filling the RV is the least of the concerns...

[creativepart]

Gosh, just 2 or 3 weeks ago I was proudly saying, "won't stop me" and "we didn't get into RVing to save money." But now that gas has gone up $1 a gallon more in the past 3-weeks. I have to admit that I'm not sure I feel that way now.

We came back from Tucson on Feb 14th, so not a full month ago and I filled up the RV near our home at $3.03/gal. Today all the stations around here are at $3.99/gal.

Now, we have a small trip planned for the week of Mar 20. Just 214 miles round trip but it's on a very hilly portion of I-10 and this will use about 35 gallons of gas. I'll be traveling on $3.03/gal gas in my 80 gallon tank. But when I refill at ???? what $4.50 by then? That will cost ~$160!!!

And, our May month-long trip we were thinking... Michigan OR South Dakota. But at what $6/gal? I'm already thinking maybe someplace much closer. Oklahoma? New Mexico?

It may be crazy, but I think these super fast price rises are going to SHOCK every American and people will react instantly and drive much less. That will drop consumption massively as well and the high prices will start to fall. So, unless things get much worse in Europe - and they very well could - I think this will be a short term phenomenon.

Don't get me wrong. Prices aren't going back to $2.50/gal, but certainly some fall back will take place when no one wants to buy gasoline because it's so very expensive.

PS. It wasn't related to the price of gas at all - HONEST - but we placed an order for an all electric BMW two days ago to replace my wife's aging BMW (it's now 8 years old). She wanted another BMW (she's had 6 or more) and I wanted an electric car. But now with gas prices as they are it may be the smart move. Electric cars and trucks are going to suddenly be much more in demand during and after this gas crisis. They expect our car to come in between Oct and Nov.

[Marine359]

Originally calculated our estimated fuel cost @ $2,300 @ $3.25 avg for our coast to coast and back again trip, which were now halfway through. Now at $4.75 avg, trip will cost $1,000 more than we budgeted. Hurts, but not a game changer.

[Chaffeekid]

It’s going to have an effect on our trips, still planning on one to northern Illinois, then out to western Missouri, but we will probably scrub the one we were planning to the Waco tx area.
On the bright side ordered a central vacuum system and will be installing that in the coach soon, Dirt Devil 1500. WOOHOO

[Marine359]

Originally Posted by Chaffeekid

On the bright side ordered a central vacuum system and will be installing that in the coach soon, Dirt Devil 1500. WOOHOO

Does that model come with somebody to do the vacuuming?

[Cake sniffer]

I’m on the road right now, it’s really not so bad. I filled up at $4.19 a gallon today, didn’t hurt to bad. I figure at $5 a gallon I will be paying 62.5 cents a mile (8 miles per gallon). 2,000 miles equals $1,240. That’s really not so bad if you consider I’m driving one of my houses. I did kick myself for filling up in Alabama right before I crossed into Mississippi, gas in ole’miss is still$3.78. Then I did the math and realized it wasn’t a bank buster. Gotta pay if ya wanna play!

[Wyatt]

Like I said, 10 cents a day every day now, non stop…

[RocknRoll]

Last year I planned a quick, one week trip to the FL panhandle (Ft. Pickens) for mid-April. Unless I can extend at least another week there or another nearby campground, I may cancel my reservation. Economically, it doesn't make sense when I can spend hard earned dollars closer to home.

I'm old enough to remember when gas was 75 cents/gal and automobiles in the 60's and 70's got about the same mileage as the typical RV. When it jumped to a buck in 1979, it was a major economic hardship as if I recall, minimum wage was about $2.75.

With minimum wage now around $15 and gas $4-$6, the ratio is about the same. Truth is, adjusted for inflation, oil/gas is about the same price as it was 40 years ago. However, the folks who live check to check or are on a fixed income are unfortunately feeling the pain.