Need a loan for gas yet?
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TexasStooge
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Gas prices leave drivers on empty
By Don Wall / WFAA ABC 8
High gas prices are why some drivers have said they found themselves on the side of the road in their car on empty. The average prices of gasoline in North Texas held steady Tuesday for the first time in more than a week. In Dallas the average price of regular unleaded gas remained at $2.62 per gallon. In Fort Worth and Arlington it was a cent cheaper at $2.61.
For those people who pay cash for gas, it sometimes means they use just what they have in their pocket. But some people have found themselves a little short.
The Dallas County courtesy patrol moves debris off the highways and stops to help people with flat tires and school buses with dead batteries. They also help those who find their cars on empty.
"I've seen a lot of people run out of gas here over the last month or two," said David Brown, a Dallas County courtesy patrol officer.
He said he received at least eight gas calls Monday.
Tricia Andrews ran out of gas because she said she doesn't carry enough cash to fill up her car all the way. Instead, she said she usually buys only what she thinks she needs.
But today she said that system left her and her truck helpless on the side of the road and embarrassed.
"[I put in] at least ten or fifteen [dollars] so you can at least get somewhere and be able to get back," she said. "It didn't work today."
The courtesy patrol wasn't around this time and nobody stopped to help until News 8 did. She laughed nervously as cars moved around her stalled car and she received a few honks. To fill up a 21/2 gas gallon to get her car started and in the road it cost $6.88.
However, courtesy patrol said they have the answer for those who get in their car while its almost on empty.
"If you don't have money for gas, why get in your car and drive down the road?" asked Serena Jones.
But most likely, people like Andrews are beginning to realize quickly that $10 worth of gas doesn't go as far as it once did.
By Don Wall / WFAA ABC 8
High gas prices are why some drivers have said they found themselves on the side of the road in their car on empty. The average prices of gasoline in North Texas held steady Tuesday for the first time in more than a week. In Dallas the average price of regular unleaded gas remained at $2.62 per gallon. In Fort Worth and Arlington it was a cent cheaper at $2.61.
For those people who pay cash for gas, it sometimes means they use just what they have in their pocket. But some people have found themselves a little short.
The Dallas County courtesy patrol moves debris off the highways and stops to help people with flat tires and school buses with dead batteries. They also help those who find their cars on empty.
"I've seen a lot of people run out of gas here over the last month or two," said David Brown, a Dallas County courtesy patrol officer.
He said he received at least eight gas calls Monday.
Tricia Andrews ran out of gas because she said she doesn't carry enough cash to fill up her car all the way. Instead, she said she usually buys only what she thinks she needs.
But today she said that system left her and her truck helpless on the side of the road and embarrassed.
"[I put in] at least ten or fifteen [dollars] so you can at least get somewhere and be able to get back," she said. "It didn't work today."
The courtesy patrol wasn't around this time and nobody stopped to help until News 8 did. She laughed nervously as cars moved around her stalled car and she received a few honks. To fill up a 21/2 gas gallon to get her car started and in the road it cost $6.88.
However, courtesy patrol said they have the answer for those who get in their car while its almost on empty.
"If you don't have money for gas, why get in your car and drive down the road?" asked Serena Jones.
But most likely, people like Andrews are beginning to realize quickly that $10 worth of gas doesn't go as far as it once did.
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azsnowman
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- Location: Pinetop Arizona. Elevation 7102' (54 miles west of NM border)
Still at $2.57 for 5 days in a ROW.....one station even DROPPED the price to a WHOPPING $2.56!!! Of course, with Labor Day coming up, prices WILL go up no doubt. Funny thing, there is not ONE SINGLE hotel, motel, cabin vacant for that weekend, it's SO bad that the Chamber of COmmerce is asking ANYONE that has a room available to let them know!! HEY.....I've got a spare room, a tent trailer, I could make a $1000 in 3 days 
renting them out!!
Dennis
renting them out!!
Dennis
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TexasStooge
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Gas prices have some saying charge it
By STEVE STOLER / WFAA ABC 8
The price of gas has many North Texas drivers pulling out their credit cards. In fact, three of four customers charge their gas.
Dallas driver Nathan Walker said he has no choice but to use his credit card to fill up his car.
"I probably don't have the amount of money I usually would to spend on gas," he said. "So, you got to account for it the way you can pay for it."
Walker said he can't pay off his monthly credit card bills on top of paying record gas prices. He said he also has to pay for the interest on his account.
"It sucks for everybody," he said. "But it's something you really can't do anything about right now. So, you just got to deal with it."
But driver Syl Alford said that system is a quick way to find one's self in debt.
"That's mounting debt and that's the pathway to credit destruction," he said.
The owners of Maso's Texaco said 70 percent of their customers now use credit cards to buy gas, which is an increase of 15 percent from last year.
"Many of us don't carry a lot of cash around," said Maher Maso. "So, it's just more convenient, and unfortunately a lot of people don't have the cash flow to support paying almost $3.00 a gallon for fuel."
Marc Misuraca said he spends $400 a day to fill up his four tow trucks.
"You're able to put your payment off for 30 days," he said about using a credit card. "You are letting it ride on the credit card company's money instead of paying it out of your pocket."
And while many would rather pay in cash, some drivers said daily life and high gas prices don't give them much of an option.
"It's awful," said Dallas driver Monica Ochoa. "I mean, you still have to get to work. You still have to go grocery shopping and drop the kids off at school. So, what do you do?"
By STEVE STOLER / WFAA ABC 8
The price of gas has many North Texas drivers pulling out their credit cards. In fact, three of four customers charge their gas.
Dallas driver Nathan Walker said he has no choice but to use his credit card to fill up his car.
"I probably don't have the amount of money I usually would to spend on gas," he said. "So, you got to account for it the way you can pay for it."
Walker said he can't pay off his monthly credit card bills on top of paying record gas prices. He said he also has to pay for the interest on his account.
"It sucks for everybody," he said. "But it's something you really can't do anything about right now. So, you just got to deal with it."
But driver Syl Alford said that system is a quick way to find one's self in debt.
"That's mounting debt and that's the pathway to credit destruction," he said.
The owners of Maso's Texaco said 70 percent of their customers now use credit cards to buy gas, which is an increase of 15 percent from last year.
"Many of us don't carry a lot of cash around," said Maher Maso. "So, it's just more convenient, and unfortunately a lot of people don't have the cash flow to support paying almost $3.00 a gallon for fuel."
Marc Misuraca said he spends $400 a day to fill up his four tow trucks.
"You're able to put your payment off for 30 days," he said about using a credit card. "You are letting it ride on the credit card company's money instead of paying it out of your pocket."
And while many would rather pay in cash, some drivers said daily life and high gas prices don't give them much of an option.
"It's awful," said Dallas driver Monica Ochoa. "I mean, you still have to get to work. You still have to go grocery shopping and drop the kids off at school. So, what do you do?"
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azsnowman
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- Joined: Wed Feb 05, 2003 8:56 pm
- Location: Pinetop Arizona. Elevation 7102' (54 miles west of NM border)
So much for the LULL in price increases 
JERKS.........we're NOW at $2.85 a FRIGGIN' GALLON and with the WEEKEND approaching AND Labor Day NEXT weekend, I'd BET the jokers with RAISE it to $3.00, WHY NOT??
Our vacation is STILL on REGARDLESS of how HIGH prices go......life's too short to let the OIL COMPANIES dictate my life now especially after my health issues arose!!
Dennis
JERKS.........we're NOW at $2.85 a FRIGGIN' GALLON and with the WEEKEND approaching AND Labor Day NEXT weekend, I'd BET the jokers with RAISE it to $3.00, WHY NOT??
Our vacation is STILL on REGARDLESS of how HIGH prices go......life's too short to let the OIL COMPANIES dictate my life now especially after my health issues arose!!
Dennis
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TexasStooge
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Driven to extremes: Gas retailers feel rage
Facing tirades, theft, retailers say profits slim to none
By MICHAEL E. YOUNG and DAVID FLICK / The Dallas Morning News
The cost of gasoline is pushing some motorists beyond the breaking point. And gas retailers and station attendants are paying for it.
They say they're dealing with increasing anger and even the threat of violence for circumstances far beyond their control.
"Maybe because we work here, they think we set the prices, but we don't," said Frank Chuc, manager of a Texaco station at Inwood Road and Cedar Springs. "They're mad."
"They pitch the money at us and say, 'That's ridiculous,' " said Rosalinda Hernandez, who works at a Chevron Food Mart on Miller Road in Garland.
The anger and abuse and the losses from people who fill up and drive off have some retailers wondering why they stay in the business.
"I sell gas for $2.61; I buy it for $2.59," said Gita Bhimani, operator of a Sunlight Food Mart on Jupiter Road in Garland. "I'm tired of it."
Saeed Mahdoubi, who operates a Texaco station at Greenville Avenue and Walnut Hill Lane, took a pre-emptive approach to deflecting customer anger. He posted signs on all of the station's pumps with a simple suggestion:
"If skyrocketing gasoline prices bother you, call your congressman."
So far, local confrontations between buyer and seller have stopped far short of a case in Alabama last week. A gas station owner was killed trying to prevent the theft of $52 in gas.
Husain "Tony" Caddi, 54, grabbed hold of a Jeep Grand Cherokee as its driver wheeled out of the Texaco station in Fort Payne, Ala., lost his grip and was run over by one of the SUV's rear wheels.
The driver, Alvin D. Benefield, 42, surrendered six days after Mr. Caddi's death. Mr. Benefield told police he "didn't have the money for gas and said he didn't realize what had happened at the time," Fort Payne Assistant Police Chief Mike Grant said.
"But after he found out, he said it started bothering him real bad."
Lynton Allred, executive vice president of the Texas Petroleum Marketers and Convenience Store Association, said most consumers have no idea how gas prices are structured.
When they see prices jump, "they take it out on someone who has absolutely nothing to do with it – because they're handy."
"There are people who are making lots of money," Mr. Allred said. "It just isn't the person you're buying your gas from."
The association represents about 8,000 retailers, Mr. Allred said, and at best, their share of the $2.601 U.S. average for a gallon of regular unleaded gasoline is 8 to 10 cents, and probably much less than that.
"If gas is selling for $2.50 a gallon, they're paying at least $2.40, and sometimes they're paying more than the $2.50 they charge," Mr. Allred said. "They lose money on every gallon and have to subsidize gas with other things they sell."
Even a best-case scenario, with a potential profit of 10 cents a gallon, is quickly whittled down to a couple of pennies by credit card costs – "just a 3 percent fee on $2.50 a gallon is 7 ½ cents," he said – and other business expenses.
And if motorists drive off without paying, particularly if they leave with the gas nozzle still attached to the car, a station would have to pump thousands of gallons of gasoline to make up the loss.
That's happened twice recently at Ms. Bhimani's convenience store. Repairing each hose cost $300.
Some Dallas-area retailers said they've seen few problems and little anger over prices.
"They just want to buy the highest grade" of gas, said Ketema Bedane, manager of a Shell station along the Miracle Mile section of Lovers Lane in University Park. And even with premium gas selling for $2.83 a gallon, "they'll pay the highest price and don't complain."
Which isn't to say his life is perfect.
"We ran out of the premium grade yesterday," Mr. Bedane said Friday, "and I heard some complaints about that."
David Murphy, manager of a Fina convenience mart in Allen, said he's heard some grumbling about prices, but he tells his customers he can't do a thing about them.
"I don't set prices," he said. "I just do what I'm told."
"All our customers have been pleasant ... either pleasant or understanding, knowing [the price of gas] has nothing to do with us," said Karen "Karo" Baker Rowold, manager of an Allen Exxon station.
But Megan Poppel said her patrons at the Preston Center Mobil station are definitely upset.
"And the heat doesn't help," she said. "But I deal with it."
The station requires customers to prepay to combat drive-offs, Ms. Poppel said, but that just gives customers another reason to be mad.
"They're pretty angry," she said.
Still, some motorists have found ways to remain philosophical about the price of gas.
"It's a bummer, it's a bummer," muttered Don Bass of University Park as he finished pumping $37 worth of gas into his pickup.
Then he thought about it.
"My folks are oil money," he said, "so I guess these prices help me out."
Staff writers Richard Abshire, Lauren D'Avolio, Kristine Hughes and Kim Horner and the Associated Press contributed to this story.
Facing tirades, theft, retailers say profits slim to none
By MICHAEL E. YOUNG and DAVID FLICK / The Dallas Morning News
The cost of gasoline is pushing some motorists beyond the breaking point. And gas retailers and station attendants are paying for it.
They say they're dealing with increasing anger and even the threat of violence for circumstances far beyond their control.
"Maybe because we work here, they think we set the prices, but we don't," said Frank Chuc, manager of a Texaco station at Inwood Road and Cedar Springs. "They're mad."
"They pitch the money at us and say, 'That's ridiculous,' " said Rosalinda Hernandez, who works at a Chevron Food Mart on Miller Road in Garland.
The anger and abuse and the losses from people who fill up and drive off have some retailers wondering why they stay in the business.
"I sell gas for $2.61; I buy it for $2.59," said Gita Bhimani, operator of a Sunlight Food Mart on Jupiter Road in Garland. "I'm tired of it."
Saeed Mahdoubi, who operates a Texaco station at Greenville Avenue and Walnut Hill Lane, took a pre-emptive approach to deflecting customer anger. He posted signs on all of the station's pumps with a simple suggestion:
"If skyrocketing gasoline prices bother you, call your congressman."
So far, local confrontations between buyer and seller have stopped far short of a case in Alabama last week. A gas station owner was killed trying to prevent the theft of $52 in gas.
Husain "Tony" Caddi, 54, grabbed hold of a Jeep Grand Cherokee as its driver wheeled out of the Texaco station in Fort Payne, Ala., lost his grip and was run over by one of the SUV's rear wheels.
The driver, Alvin D. Benefield, 42, surrendered six days after Mr. Caddi's death. Mr. Benefield told police he "didn't have the money for gas and said he didn't realize what had happened at the time," Fort Payne Assistant Police Chief Mike Grant said.
"But after he found out, he said it started bothering him real bad."
Lynton Allred, executive vice president of the Texas Petroleum Marketers and Convenience Store Association, said most consumers have no idea how gas prices are structured.
When they see prices jump, "they take it out on someone who has absolutely nothing to do with it – because they're handy."
"There are people who are making lots of money," Mr. Allred said. "It just isn't the person you're buying your gas from."
The association represents about 8,000 retailers, Mr. Allred said, and at best, their share of the $2.601 U.S. average for a gallon of regular unleaded gasoline is 8 to 10 cents, and probably much less than that.
"If gas is selling for $2.50 a gallon, they're paying at least $2.40, and sometimes they're paying more than the $2.50 they charge," Mr. Allred said. "They lose money on every gallon and have to subsidize gas with other things they sell."
Even a best-case scenario, with a potential profit of 10 cents a gallon, is quickly whittled down to a couple of pennies by credit card costs – "just a 3 percent fee on $2.50 a gallon is 7 ½ cents," he said – and other business expenses.
And if motorists drive off without paying, particularly if they leave with the gas nozzle still attached to the car, a station would have to pump thousands of gallons of gasoline to make up the loss.
That's happened twice recently at Ms. Bhimani's convenience store. Repairing each hose cost $300.
Some Dallas-area retailers said they've seen few problems and little anger over prices.
"They just want to buy the highest grade" of gas, said Ketema Bedane, manager of a Shell station along the Miracle Mile section of Lovers Lane in University Park. And even with premium gas selling for $2.83 a gallon, "they'll pay the highest price and don't complain."
Which isn't to say his life is perfect.
"We ran out of the premium grade yesterday," Mr. Bedane said Friday, "and I heard some complaints about that."
David Murphy, manager of a Fina convenience mart in Allen, said he's heard some grumbling about prices, but he tells his customers he can't do a thing about them.
"I don't set prices," he said. "I just do what I'm told."
"All our customers have been pleasant ... either pleasant or understanding, knowing [the price of gas] has nothing to do with us," said Karen "Karo" Baker Rowold, manager of an Allen Exxon station.
But Megan Poppel said her patrons at the Preston Center Mobil station are definitely upset.
"And the heat doesn't help," she said. "But I deal with it."
The station requires customers to prepay to combat drive-offs, Ms. Poppel said, but that just gives customers another reason to be mad.
"They're pretty angry," she said.
Still, some motorists have found ways to remain philosophical about the price of gas.
"It's a bummer, it's a bummer," muttered Don Bass of University Park as he finished pumping $37 worth of gas into his pickup.
Then he thought about it.
"My folks are oil money," he said, "so I guess these prices help me out."
Staff writers Richard Abshire, Lauren D'Avolio, Kristine Hughes and Kim Horner and the Associated Press contributed to this story.
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azsnowman
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- Location: Pinetop Arizona. Elevation 7102' (54 miles west of NM border)
WELL....it HAPPENED, we hit $3.09 a GALLON for premium of course but STILL The so called CHEAP stuff is NOW $2.89, can you BELIEVE this?? I know, the oil companies are saying it's Katrina, I cannot WAIT until they stand before the Throne on Judgement Day, let's see what kind of EXCUSE they tell St. Peter!
Dennis
The so called CHEAP stuff is NOW $2.89, can you BELIEVE this?? I know, the oil companies are saying it's Katrina, I cannot WAIT until they stand before the Throne on Judgement Day, let's see what kind of EXCUSE they tell St. Peter!
Dennis
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TexasStooge
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stormraiser
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