I don't understand the .09 retail profit. We are having a gas war here now and Giant grocery store is selling reg unleaded for $3.39 while Sheetz 6 miles away is at $3.55.

 

    I really do appreciate the education, Lynn!

    Ben      

The franchise outlets have a problem that amounts to being stabbed in the back by the big nasty oil companies. The old (brand X station) on the corners can fix a tire, tune an engine, or teach a young kid

about cars and engines. He cannot sell non brand X retail stuff, and those prices are high to him and sales are poor. If he can pump 75,000 to 100,000 gallons per month, and sell a few items, he can make it, working less than 60 hours per week. A block away is a big chain grocery store, or a Brand X pump farm with a "Stop and Rob" store in the center.

 

That location or a number of them at the same time can cut the gallon price 20 cents and still be pulling money out of those locations. The employees have no investment in the location, and no rights to be protected by any state laws. The franchise guy only has 9 cents to work with and a monthly franchise fee no matter how much money he can make. He cannot wage much of a gas war on anyone. This why there are so few of them left.

 

Right now we have prices around $3.58 from the big name stations. That could be $3.28 if two of the big guys get a bur under their saddles. It could be in the mid $2.50s if you take off the state, local and federal taxes. The taxes in some areas, are not a fixed amount per gallon but a percentage of the retail price, so the folks at the top have no vested interest in reducing fuel prices. The leadership pretends to be working on the problem on the news, but in private they make longer lists of how to blow in your money to make them look good. So, don't hold your breath on fuel prices. So where is the bonus cash to the federal highway trust fund actually going?  Why to the senator Foghorn condom museum in CashPoor Montana. A "must see" in

the AAA guide book. But don't get me started.  

 

I think the Navy used ProSeal kits to repair fuel leaks. Sounds like an endorsement to me.

 

Lynn E. Hanover