Gasoline prices nationwide hit another new record high today, averaging $3.24 a gallon, while Iowa’s average price for a gallon of gas is now at $3.18. Crude oil prices are now over $109 a barrel, up more than $20 since January. Triple-A-Iowa spokeswoman Rose White says with crude oil prices bounding, gas prices will only keep climbing, while diesel is already sky-high.
White says, "Ten states right now report diesel fuel averages of four-dollars a gallon. Here in Iowa and Nebraska, it’s just under $3.80 a gallon but a big increase from last year when we were paying about $2.58. Crude oil prices continue to rise so we haven’t seen the full impact of that increase passed on at the retail level."
White says those high diesel prices will have an impact at the grocery store as the high price of transportation will be passed along to consumers. The high prices are hitting just as families are planning a trip for spring break or their summer vacations.
White says: "In January, there was basically a fuel surcharge of ten-dollars on every round-trip flight in the domestic market. That increased to $20 in January, doubled in February and now there has been another ten-dollar increase so right now, many of the major domestic carriers are charging $50 for fuel surcharge with every domestic airline ticket."
White maintains people work too hard to give up vacations altogether but will likely choose trips closer to home. Iowa’s highest-ever price for gasoline was $3.35, set last May.