So, gas prices reached $4 per gallon, and people in the south and great plains are suffering the most.
Gasoline prices reached a national average of $4 a gallon for the first time over the weekend, adding more strain to motorists across the country.
But the pain is not being felt uniformly. Across broad swaths of the South, Southwest and the upper Great Plains, the combination of low incomes, high gas prices and heavy dependence on pickup trucks and vans is putting an even tighter squeeze on family budgets.
Here in the Mississippi Delta, some farm workers are borrowing money from their bosses so they can fill their tanks and get to work. Some are switching jobs for shorter commutes.
People are giving up meat so they can buy fuel. Gasoline theft is rising. And drivers are running out of gas more often, leaving their cars by the side of the road until they can scrape together gas money.
The disparity between rural America and the rest of the country is a matter of simple home economics. Nationwide, Americans are now spending about 4 percent of their take-home income on gasoline. By contrast, in some counties in the Mississippi Delta, that figure has surpassed 13 percent.
Now, in the south, lets add that we are also paying for ghost gas during the warm months. It’s not just a matter of paying more, it’s a matter of paying for something we aren’t getting.
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I’d never heard of the term “ghost gas” before, Thanks for letting us know about the issue. That business about the expense of retrofitting the pump with temperature compensation devices is BS. My dad worked in an industry 50 years ago where they made adjustments on the price of fuel based on similar conditions by handing out preprinted charts with the revised prices to the employees. If a change needed to be made, the employee would just look at the chart for the appropriate price adjustment. Gas stations could do something similar by offering a discount to people who opt to go inside and ask for the adjustment. I would bet a lot of people would opt to just pay by credit card at the pump and take off when they’re done filling up.
Carrie, that’s assuming the oil companies would agree — and when they are pulling in record profits, I’d lean to them not agreeing to an adjustment.
[...] or your mortgage because you’re putting all your money into your gas tank, particularly in rural areas, it’s your own damn fault. Don’t you know, you’re supposed to bend over and ask, [...]