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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.

Read it with links at Dayton Business Journal


 
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