By Brittany Hart, Paul Minnis and Kirk Johannesen, The Republic
Gas prices at many Bartholomew County stations reached a record $3.59 for a gallon of self-serve unleaded, up 80 cents in less than a month.
Swifty full-service station manager Roy Anderson said fuel distributors continue to tell him that there is no reason for gas prices to be rising.
"People can't survive on these prices," Anderson said. "There has to be a stopping point somewhere."
According to AAA Hoosier Motor Club, the national average as of about 3 a.m. Tuesday was $3.21, up 15 cents from a month earlier. Indiana's average was $3.35, up 58 cents.
To cope with peaking prices, some Columbus drivers are buying smaller, more fuel-efficient vehicles.
Swifty customers Wanda Caluya and Sue Eaglen recently purchased Zongshen scooters.
"This is our idea about how to deal with gas prices," Caluya said.
The scooters get 147 miles to the gallon, costing Caluya about $10 a month versus the $144 a month it takes to fill her truck.
Record-high gas prices also factored into Ted Church's latest vehicle purchase.
"I just bought a smaller car," Church said, from the driver's seat of his Nissan 350Z, which gets about 20 miles per gallon in city driving and 27 on the highway.
Others are seeking out gas stations that increase their prices a day after competitors.
"I was trying to get in on the $3.39 gas," said Mike Mensendiek. "Usually, this is the last station that goes up."
Swifty on Indiana 46 bumped its unleaded gas price to $3.59 around 1:30 p.m. Tuesday, while its nearby competitors had reached that level early Tuesday.
Mensendiek said he is thinking of ways to run more of his business from office computers and telephones to save gas on work travel. A full tank for his truck cost $75.
Dan Heath spent $53 on half a tank for his truck.
"I can't hardly stand to fill it all the way up," Heath said.
Some motorists drive less or wait to fill up until their gas tanks are below the empty line, but others cannot adjust their time on the road.
"I buy what I have to buy," Church said.
Impact
The city of Columbus was paying about $2.79 a gallon as of Tuesday because governments are spared gas taxes, said Oakel Hardy, the city's budget director.
He said that when he figured the budget for 2007 last year he set $2.75 a gallon as the worst-case scenario.
Although that "worst-case" figure has been exceeded, the city still is in good financial shape because the price until now has averaged well below the $2.75 mark.
Hardy said the city could be in trouble if the price climbs much higher.
City departments have been trying to save fuel costs for a while. The police department, for example, has been using fuel-efficient cars for detectives and other administrative employees who do not need so much horsepower, Police Chief Bill Martin said.
He said patrolmen have been asked to shut off their engines while writing accident reports or in similar circumstance in which idling is unnecessary.
"We monitor our consumption and our mileage," Martin said. "If it gets tight, we'll have to do what we can."
Jim Norris, the City Garage director, said city bus engines are turned off every hour instead of idling outside a bus stop.
"The prices are even higher this year than we anticipated," he said. "It makes you want to look at things."
Hardy said he and other city officials would talk soon about what price to anticipate in the 2008 budget. The $2.75 cost per gallon was the same the city used in 2006.
Travel agents also are feeling the sting of sky-high fuel prices.
Martha Risk, who owns Conway Tours & Travel on Pennsylvania Street, said she has been booking trips for 2008 and cannot believe the travel costs.
She said she could arrange a trip to Alaska three years ago for $600, including air fare and bus costs. Today, the same trip costs $1,200.
"The gas prices affect everything, from hotel to food costs," Risk said. "It's very frustrating that we have no control over this."
Why the spike?
According to U.S. Department of Energy, gas prices are high because inventories declined over 12 consecutive weeks in February, March and April. Also, lower import levels and refinery outages have slowed supplies. Demand, however, keeps growing.
DOE expects gasoline inventories to remain lower than usual this summer, although increases in inventories are expected.
A gas station industry spokesman said raising gas prices is like a game of chicken.
Scot Imus, executive director of Indiana Petroleum Marketers and Convenience Store Association, said competing stores don't want to be the first to boost prices, and they wait to raise them until they can't tolerate losing money.
Imus said that explains why people often see a dramatic jump in prices rather than incremental increases.
Between Thursday and Friday, wholesale prices statewide increased 14 cents, but those costs are just now being passed on to consumers.
In the Indianapolis market, wholesale prices increased 18 cents since last Thursday, but retail prices had increased just 3 cents.
"Many retailers sell below cost, but if wholesale prices continue to increase, there is the notion that the retail community will have bled enough and post higher prices to consumers," Imus said.
He said that with the taxes figured into the wholesale price, gas should have been selling for $3.47 per gallon when it was sold for $3.39.
In 2006, Indiana retailers had an average margin of 9.1 cents per gallon. Much of that margin has been lost, however, because retailers must pay fees for any transactions using debit or credit cards. Those costs also factor into price increases.