With gas prices surging in every state from California to New York, drivers face the highest prices they’ve seen at the pump in years.
Already wincing from the high cost of living, some are going out of their way to spend less at the pump, cooling their jets in long gas lines at Costco and Sam’s Club, downloading the GasBuddy mobile app to scout for the cheapest gas and tapping fuel rewards programs.
Krystal Goodner, 44, a content creator and freelance media professional who is active in her church and community, said she could only look on helplessly as the numbers flew by on the pump, ticking faster than her heart rate. She paid $20 more to fill her tank this week than she did two weeks ago.
When gas prices jumped in 2020, she downsized to a midsize Infiniti sedan to conserve fuel. At first, she missed having a bigger car. Not anymore.
“I couldn’t imagine paying more than that right now,” said Goodner, who lives in Jefferson, Indiana, on a tight budget.
As gas prices soar into nosebleed territory, her habits are changing. When she needs to fill her tank, she fires up the GasBuddy app to scout for the lowest gas prices. GasBuddy said downloads have dramatically increased since February and that daily app use has increased by nearly a third since the Iran war broke out.
“It’s just a silent storm brewing for a lot of people with the health insurance stuff then the grocery prices and now this,” Goodner said. “It’s just another thing making our lives a lot harder right now.”
Why Gas Prices Are Surging
Pain at the pump is the most in-your-face result of the U.S. and Israel attacks on Iran on Feb. 28, and it’s costing American households and businesses.
Before the war, President Donald Trump bragged about low gas prices. With the war entering its fourth week, the price of crude oil has shot up with the near-total closure of the Strait of Hormuz.
The national average for a gallon of regular gasoline is flirting with $4 a gallon – a major leap from the prewar level of $2.98. Truckers are fuming over the nosebleed price of diesel that recently topped $5 a gallon.
The Trump administration is looking for ways to lower gas prices ahead of the pivotal November midterm elections, from asking Congress to suspend the federal gas tax to releasing more oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve.
The International Energy Agency has advised working from home, carpooling or using public transportation and cutting out nonessential travel to decrease fuel demand and ease oil prices. But that’s not always feasible.
How Drivers Are Fighting Back
Shawn Carey, 60, an operations manager at a corporate event company and a wildlife photographer, groaned as he paid $3.45 a gallon to fill up his Subaru Outback. Three weeks earlier at the same gas station, the cheapest near his home in Braintree, Massachusetts, he paid $2.49 a gallon.
“I don’t like overpaying for things. It’s that simple,” he said.
Carey put 240,000 miles on his first Honda Element and 340,000 on his second. And he has always shopped around for gas. With six stations close to his house, he regularly drives 3 miles out of his way to shave 10 to 15 cents − and sometimes more − off a gallon.
“Even in my office, people are talking about it now,” Carey said. “A lot of the younger guys have a couple of kids, a mortgage payment, a car payment and that’s one of the things they talk about, how it’s eating into their salary every week.”
Never underestimate the lengths some people will go to save a buck while filling their tanks – in and outside of the United States.
James McCabe, a 46-year-old loader operator from Edmonton, Canada, owns five older vehicles, including a gas-guzzling 2010 Toyota Tundra, but drives a subcompact to the construction site each workday because of its fuel efficiency.
About 10 years ago he bought two slip tanks – one 90-gallon portable gas container for the back of one of his trucks and one 40-gallon container that he keeps in his backyard – so he can opportunistically stock up on gas when it’s cheaper and ride out the stressful periods when prices surge.
He hunts for the cheapest gas using the GasBuddy app and then fills up twice using the slip tanks to have enough fuel to last three months behind the wheel of his 2003 Toyota Echo.
“It’s a definite savings,” McCabe told USA TODAY.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Slip tanks? You won’t believe how these people are saving money on gas
Reporting by Jessica Guynn, USA TODAY / USA TODAY
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
