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Tears nearly came to my eyes this morning as I
watched the numbers continue to climb as I filled my tank this
morning. With prices at $3.05 for regular unleaded fuel, my car
easily guzzled $39.00 in a matter of minutes. I stood there in
amazement and wondered if the costs are affecting me as much as
they are to local small businesses and government agencies that
have vehicles on the road most of the day?
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I spoke to Joseph Gonzalez, owner of Gonzalez
Pest Control in Chickasha. I asked him how gas prices are
affecting his company. He has 7 vehicles on the road daily
servicing customers in Grady and Caddo Counties and extending up
to Oklahoma City. All of his vehicles are pick up trucks, two of
which are diesel. Joseph said that when he first acquired the
diesel vehicles, diesel fuel cost him about 50 cents less per
gallon than regular gas. Diesel prices this morning are running
him 20 cents more per gallon than his vehicles that take regular.
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Gonzalez tries to group his daily appointments
together based on their vicinity and needs, but this isn’t
always the way things turn out. “If a customer in Lindsay
discovers termites, we drive to Lindsay, whether we were scheduled
to be in Lindsay today or not.”
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I asked Joseph to check his business records
for me and he was quite surprised. From January 1 to November 9 of
2006, his fuel costs ran $17,000.00 In the same period of 2007,
his fuel costs have risen to $28,000.00 A difference of $11,000.
He does his best not to pass on costs. My bill reflects his
service for my home costs are the same this year as in 2006. As
with most small businesses, Joseph simply absorbs the increased
fuel costs.
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I spoke to Sheriff McMullen of Grady County as
well. On an average day, he has 30 vehicles on county roads. All
his vehicles are unleaded. In two years time, he has seen fuel
costs increase for his department from an average of $900 to $1000
per week to $1800 a week. He said the excise board does a good job
with the money they have and that he has no complaints; but like
any other government agency, he has to move money around within
his budget to compensate for the increase in fuel costs. In his
case, this prevents him from hiring extra personnel and purchasing
equipment his department needs in order to keep his units
patrolling the roads as usual.
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As consumers, we have little recourse in
response to the ever climbing gas prices. We can, however, make
simple, common sense changes to bring our fuel prices down
- Make one trip out for all of your
shopping and errands.
- Make sure your car is properly tuned up,
your tires are inflated correctly and your wheels are properly
aligned.
- Fill up in the morning or evening when
temperatures are cooler.
- Maintain your speed on the highways.
- Carpool, take public transportation, walk
or ride a bicycle when possible.
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I would like to end this editorial by saying
that I hope we do not see prices of $4 per gallon in the next 6
months, but I’m not very optimistic. We just need to learn to
adjust our activities as best we can to make it so we don’t cry
at the gas pumps.
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TIPS ON PUMPING GAS
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Here are some tricks to get more
of your money's worth for every gallon.
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Only buy or fill up your car or truck in the
early morning when the ground
temperature is still cold. Remember that all service
stations have their storage
tanks buried below ground. The colder the ground the more dense
the gasoline, when it gets warmer gasoline expands, so buying in
the afternoon or
in the evening....your gallon is not exactly a gallon. In the
petroleum business,
the specific gravity and the temperature of the gasoline, diesel
and jet fuel, ethanol and other petroleum
products plays an important role. A
1-degree rise in temperature is a big deal for this business. But
the service stations do not have temperature compensation at the
pumps.
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When you're filling up do not squeeze the
trigger of the nozzle to a fast
mode. If you look you will see that the trigger has
three (3) stages: low, middle, and high. In slow mode you should
be pumping on low speed, thereby
minimizing the vapors that are created while you are
pumping. All hoses at
the pump have a vapor return. If you are pumping on
the fast rate, some of
the liquid that goes to your tank becomes vapor.
Those vapors are being sucked up and back into the underground
storage tank so you're getting less worth for your money.
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One of the most important tips is to fill up
when your gas tank is HALF FULL or HALF EMPTY. The reason for this
is, the more gas you have in your tank the less air occupying its
empty space. Gasoline evaporates faster than you can imagine.
Gasoline storage tanks have an internal floating roof. This roof
serves as zero clearance between the gas and the atmosphere, so it
minimizes the evaporation. Unlike service stations, here where I
work, every truck that we load is temperature compensated so that
every gallon is actually the exact amount.
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Another reminder, if there is a gasoline truck
pumping into the storage tanks when you stop to buy gas, DO NOT
fill up--most likely the gasoline is being stirred up as the gas
is being delivered, and you might pick up some
of the dirt that normally settles on the bottom.
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Hope this will help you get the most value
for your money.
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