Pain at the Pump

COLERIDGE - Gas prices are always going to be a topic of conversation.

And Kerry Hefner of Coleridge has had a lot of conversations lately with customers at his filling station Hefner Oil Co.

“People talk about the gas prices whether it’s 2 bucks or 5 bucks. They really do, seriously. … It’s pretty much an every day conversation, not just when the price is high,” Hefner said.

Hefner Oil Co. is a full-service station where an attendant will come out and pump gas, clean the windshield, check the tires and oil so there’s more time for chit-chat.

“You get a little better feel for it that way I guess, for what people are thinking that way. We’re talking to the customers a little more,” Hefner said.

He’s got a historical look back at prices as he writes down the fuel price every day in a notebook.

“These are probably the highest prices I’ve ever seen since I’ve been here,” Hefner said of unleaded hovering just at $5 per gallon and diesel much higher - around $5.33 per gallon last week.

The last year that comes close is in 2008 when gas was around $4.20 per gallon, he said. But about eight or nine months later - in 2009-fuel prices had dropped to around $2.90.

“We’ll weather this storm. It’ll come back down,” Hefner said, adding that he predicts a break but maybe not for six months or more. And there’s no telling what the reduction in price might be. “People juts have to be patient. This will cycle through.”

Even with the higher prices, Hefner has not seen much change in behavior from drivers. The total gallons he’s sold has not changed much.

One thing he tells his customers is there’s one way to save money on gas - don’t use it.

“Save your pennies. Stay home a little more. Walk to work or pay the price,” he said.

Walking to work would be difficult for those like Mark Dawson who commutes from Wausa to Sioux City, Iowa.

It’s 150 miles round trip to his job as the logistics plans and integration superintendent at the 185th Air Refueling Wing and working from home is just not feasible.

“I got a taste of that during the height of COVID-19 and it was not conductive to my line of work at all,” he said. “Our office works with a lot of different planning factors and outside agencies that require us to be physically on-station.”

His Cadillac SRX mid-sized SUV gets about 25 miles per the gallon - leaving him to fill up twice a week at $80-$90 per fill-up.

Since he can’t cut back in driving to work, Dawson said he’s changed his habits at home.

“As a family, we tend to combine more trips and cut back on taking multiple vehicles to events unless absolutely necessary,” he said.

Just like the high gas prices cuts into Dawson’s paycheck, area businesses are also feeling the strain on their bottom line.

Dewey Gubbels of Randolph owns Rollin’ Coal Trucking and is very aware of fuel prices as he spends tens of thousands of dollars every month on fueling his fleet of 10 trucks.

He reviewed his monthly fuel reports from last year and compared them with the first half of this year and found his fuel expenses nearly doubled.

“We’ve seen a small decrease in income because of fuel price increases,” he said. “Our rates have adjusted slowly to meet it but it hasn’t kept pace with fuel increases and other inflation.”

A small business owner for four years, this year’s fuel price spike is the highest he’s seen.

Gubbels said he’s fortunate to be able to pick and choose many of the loads but he’s more careful on how he bids jobs these days - including a fuel surcharge clause on contracts. His fleet mainly hauls aggregate and road construction materials, but also some grain and feed.

“I did get caught on one problem and bid some work before the fuel increased as sharply as it did. It went from being profitable work to break-even work in the course of six months,” he said.

Gubbels said he advises his drivers to slow down to help with fuel economy. In a commercial truck, slowing down even just 5 mph can make a difference.

But month over month the fuel economy hasn’t changed much in his fleet.

“We’re just rolling with it as it goes,” Gubbels said.

On his area farms, Gubbels uses natural gas to run much of his irrigation. Natural gas has not fluctuated as much as diesel gas and for that Gubbels is grateful.

But for many farmers, the majority of irrigation runs on diesel.

Just a couple of years ago, diesel was priced at $1.50-$1.80 per gallon. Now, the prices have tripled, said Jason Kvols, Nebraska Farm Bureau’s northeast regional manager.

“Center pivot irrigation systems consume a lot of diesel fuel to put water on crops,” he said. “There’s no way to cut back when you’re in a dry cycle in Northeast Nebraska and across the state. It’s relentless and it’s going to continue to take that fuel input to be able to water the crops and give them the moisture they need.”

There’s a general feeling of frustration among farmers in the area, he said.

“There’s so much more money going into the production of the crop this year and it gives up all of their equity,” Kvols said.

Like many other businesses, farmers are also seeing increasing costs in other areas like rent prices and the inability to hire workers.

“It just seems like there’s pressure from all sides when it comes to this year, 2022. It doesn’t look like there’s any relief in sight anytime soon,” he said.