Gasoline Costs Impact Consumers, Governments

Jim Owens’ eyes got bigger and bigger as the cost to fill his pickup truck’s tank with gasoline reached $100 this week.

Once it reached the century mark, Owens had pumped almost 24 gallons and his truck still had room in its tank for more gasoline. Owens drives a truck with a 27-gallon tank.

“It would have cost me another $20 or so to completely fill my truck, but the pump automatically stopped at $100,” Owens said. “As a consumer I feel helpless.”

Owens, a Wheaton resident, said he is lucky he runs his human resources business out of his home.

“If I had to drive to an office every day I would be paying at least this ($100) a week, Owens said Thursday. “I feel sorry for those soccer moms who drive big (Chevrolet) Suburbans and haul their kids to all the different things they do. I’m sure they’re spending far more than I would have to.”

Gasoline ranges from $4.14 to $4.23 across Wheaton for unleaded fuel, according to chicagogasprices.com. According to AAA, the average cost of gasoline in Illinois is $4.02 per gallon. In April 2010, gasoline prices averaged $3.01 per gallon in Illinois, said Nick Jarmusz, a AAA spokesman.

“I can only imagine how people are having to adjust their budgets to pay for gasoline now. People don’t budget that much money for gasoline,” Owens said. “I know some people are going to go into credit card debt to keep their cars full.”

The pain at the pump may increase if some analysts are correct and gasoline prices continue to rise as summer approaches. But consumers won’t just feel the sting of gasoline prices when they fill their tanks, they will also feel the rising costs in other purchases because those items are brought to stores on trucks.

The spike in gasoline is also bringing out some criminal behavior. With the high cost of gasoline, there have been some reports of fuel theft, said Thomas Meloni, deputy chief of the Wheaton Police Department. Although there have not been record numbers of people driving off without paying for gasoline, Meloni said it’s still happening.

“We do from time to time have people steal gasoline from service stations, but it’s nothing more frequent than it has been over the past few years,” Meloni said.  

Although the city of Wheaton does not pay retail fuel prices, their costs are still tracking higher than planned budgeting. Meloni said the department has taken action to limit fuel use by instructing officers to limit the amount of time the squad car idles. Idling is often done to keep the plethora of electronic police devices running, but while gasoline is so high, Meloni said the department is ending that practice.

Michael Dzugan, assistant city manager, said for several years Wheaton has had a practice of conserving gasoline through a green initiative, and that the city has replaced larger vehicles with five hybrids and other smaller vehicles. Overall, the city reduced its number of vehicles by 20, he said.

“We have a fleet review committee with certain goals to reduce gasoline consumption by city vehicles,” Dzugan said.

Like the police department, Dzugan said the city's Public Works Department has also put an anti-idling program into place. Most of the trucks operated by that department burn diesel, but prices for that fuel are also over $4 per gallon.

He added several city projects went out to bid prior to the recent increase in gasoline, which will protect the costs of those projects from the recent gasoline price spike.