Dayton
Business Journal...
Memorial Day
travelers to pay higher gas prices
by Ginger Christ, DBJ Staff Reporter
Thursday, May 26, 2011
Travelers will have to pay more at the pump this holiday weekend.
Prices climbed as high as $3.89 per gallon Thursday throughout the
Dayton area.
The average price per gallon was $3.76, up 9 cents from the previous
day, according to AAA’s Fuel Gauge Report. Across Ohio, the average
price at the pump was $3.79 per gallon.
The cost per barrel of Brent crude for July delivery Thursday was
$100.58, down less than 1 percent.
Despite rising prices, AAA predicts nearly 35 million Americans will
travel 50 miles or more during the Memorial Day weekend, an increase of
0.2 percent from the previous year.
The average distance traveled is expected to be 792 miles, a 27 percent
increase from 2010, with 8 percent of holiday travelers opting to fly
to their destinations, according to AAA.
A AAA survey found 60 percent of travelers would not let higher prices
at the pump affect their travel plans. Seventy percent said they would
cut costs in other ways to compensate for higher gas prices.
While gas prices are higher locally, they remain below week-ago levels
when stations were charging an average of $3.84 per gallon.
And, in early May, some local stations were charging customers as high
as $4.26 per gallon.
Economists say high oil and gas prices impact more than just prices at
the pump, and can hit everything from transportation to exports and
even consumer spending. The Dayton region has long been a hub for
trucking companies because of its central Midwest location and the
intersection of Interstates 75 and 70. Con-Way Inc. has large
operations in Dayton and Arkansas Best Corp. has 630 workers in Dayton.
Old Dominion Freight Line and Knight Transportation also have local
operations.
Even larger shipping firms such as United Parcel Service and FedEx,
both of which have operations in the Dayton region, operate thousands
of delivery trucks.
The oil spike also has hurt airlines, with many carriers that fly out
of Dayton International Airport raising prices for airfares as much as
30 percent in recent months, including US Airways Group, Delta Air
Lines and AirTran, which recently merged with Southwest Airlines.
AMR Corp.’s American Airlines unit said recently it is cutting its
flight schedule 1 percent later this year as a result of higher jet
fuel costs.
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