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Gas prices went up again overnight; regular now averages $3.95 a gallon around the Washington region.
Willy Robinson has been dreading this part of his day; he's been driving less, but can't escape the need to fill up. "It's not good and it looks like its going to keep going up and up and up," said Robinson.
The record-high gas prices are hurting many local gas stations too. James Jackson owns a Southeast BP station and said he "can make more on a bottle of soda then I can on a gallon of gasoline."
That's because the oil company sets the price he pays for gas and that figure changes daily. When it goes up, so does the price gas station owners pay. And after his credit card fees are paid, Jackson says he has only about eight cents per gallon of wiggle room on the price.
"I know at 6 o'clock tonight what the price will be tomorrow," said Jackson.
A shipment of gas will last him a few days, so his prices seem more stable than a higher volume station that gets deliveries more often. His last shipment jumped seven cents a gallon wholesale, but Jackson was able to hold off the retail increase a while because he had some extra gas on hand.
"I've got to try to stay competitive, but I've got to look at the bottom line; I've got to try to stay in business," said Jackson.
His repair shop and convenience store items help, but Jackson says he is selling about 25 percent less gas a month, which he says, has a clear ripple effect. "When they buy less gas, they buy less everything else; less water, cigarettes, candy and sodas."
Jackson says on average he's making five to six cents per gallon of gas. That's a little over one percent of the price, and he says that's not even enough to pay the bills.
So as customer Willy Robinson drives off, customers and station owners alike worry just how high the prices will go.
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