NEW ORLEANS — The price at the pump has been painful and it’s getting worse.
AAA expects the cost per gallon of gasoline to hit an all-time high this week. Economists say the Russia-Ukraine conflict is to blame for driving the price of oil to staggering levels. Independent truck drivers are feeling deep pain at the pump.
Brandon Lee from Paradis in St. Charles Parish says he just paid about $5.00 a gallon for diesel.
“The average truck on the road gets 5 to 5 and a half miles to the gallon, some get better, some get worse,” Lee said. “You’re looking at a dollar a mile that its fixing to cost us just to go up and down the road to go to work.”
Lee says his fuel cost spiked by about 75 cents per gallon just this past week.
Lenniere Victorian from Houston says it seems like prices are going up about 11 cents per gallon every other day.
“The price of fuel and the loads aren’t adding up,” Victorian said. “At this point, you’re lucky if clear two hundred dollars.”
That’s before you factor in the price of insurance and other fixed costs Victorian added.
Truck drivers say as transportation costs increase, so does the cost of just about everything else.
“So, everything from your bread to your gas, to plywood anything to build your house with, the price of shingles,” Lee said. “If I have to raise my rates, because the price of fuel is going up, then the customer I’m hauling for has to raise their rates.”
According to AAA, the national average for a gallon of gasoline is now $4.06.
That’s 45 cents more than a week ago, 62 cents more than a month ago and a $1.30 more than a year ago.
Claude Dickerson says he’s had to downsize his family budget just to be able to fill up.
“Just doing the things you need to do,” Dickerson said. “Going to the store, going to the doctor, or doing the things that has to be done. Fewer trips for sure.”
According to AAA, the average price per gallon of regular gas in Louisiana is $3.87.
In New Orleans, the average price is $3.89.
Hammond is a little more expensive at $3.95.
In Houma Thibodaux, you’ll pay about $3.85 a gallon.
All you have to do is look to the west coast to see how high the price at the pump will go. Right now, drivers in California are paying about $5.40 a gallon and the price continues to rise.