I knew it was coming but still a shock when you see it.

[GLC51]

Gas has been rising steadily and they said it would be over a $1 per litre this summer but it's stilla shock when you see it for the first time. It's been bouncing up and down for a few weeks 92 - 98 cents. This morning the gas stations had temporary displays up $104.9 per litre. Only the Sunoco stations have 4 digit price signs. For the Americans a litre is about a quart. There are 3.78 litres to a US gallon so the price this morning was $3.96 for a US gallon. :realmad: :angry: :dizzy: :cry:

[John Gamba]

DAM :nono: :nono: :nono: -------------------------

[Davis Lawn Mowing, LLC]

It has reached $3.00 a gallon in California and some other places here in the States. In Michigan where I live, it is around $2.65 a gallon. This has gotten ridiculous. Gas prices are up 33% over last year I think I saw on the news. If I raised my lawn prices 33% I would be out of business in no time. I have already posted my resume on Monster.com and CareerBuilder.com and am trying to leave the industry altogether. Figured I should try and use my Bachelor's Degree for something else. By next spring, I doubt I will be in business anymore if I find the right job in the next 6 months.

[greywynd]

I read an article in the paper a while ago that talked about the energy crisis in the 70's and how everyone downsized vehicles and so on. In it the talk was that for Canadians to seriously downsize again would take gas prices of $1.50/litre. I hope the gas companies don't decide to try it out to see.
I just put a new oil tank in for the furnace, I don't want to know what it's going to cost to fill it from empty...unfortunately I don't have a lot of options available for heating the house, although I do burn as much wood as I can.

[Scapegoat]

Paid $2.519 yesterday for 87. Deisel was $2.599.

Not too brutal for me yet.

[QualityLawnCare4u]

Ours went from 2.39 Friday to 2.49 and today I saw it at some stores already at 2.59. At the dime a day it will here 3.00 by the end of the week. Im with Davis lawn on this, Im affraid in my area this will be the end for me and a lot more small time LCO. I cant go up anymore and cant absorb it either. Im affraid folks will start back cutting their on yards because they have got to save somewhere and I am a disposable luxury.

[Tonyr]

I pay average 115 cents per litre, but it goes up on weekends and public holidays to 130 cents a litre lol, ouch!

problem is many lawnies aren't putting this rise in their fees, so when those of us try to we start losing bids....doesn't make sense we cover this redulous feul pricing.

they predict within 6 months we will pay 150 cents a litre. good stuff, just what we need eh lol.

[Sean Adams]

Does anyone have any "Get-Go" stations near them? We have one and it is a "Giant Eagle" affiliate (grocery store), which has always had a membership card (free) that if you carry it with you when you shop, you are elligible for savings on store products... kinda like in house coupons.... for several years they have had an additional perk >>> the more you buy in the store the more savings you will receive on gas...

To give you an idea of how crazy this is.... yesterday I filled up my Trailblazer and my Z71 Silverado with medium grade fuel (normally $2.50+ right now) for..................................

$0.00....that is somewhere around 40-45 gallons of gas that would normally cost between $100 and $113 and we got it free just becasue we shopped in a store that we have always shopped in, buying the same stuff we always buy...the week before we didn't buy as much and I think we paid $4.50 TOTAL for 20 gallons of $2.50/gallon gas

only "issue" is the wait...I think they have 10 pumps and there is always 30-40 cars deep pumping, waiting, josstling for postion, etc...worth the wait

[out4now]

Gas has been rising steadily and they said it would be over a $1 per litre this summer but it's stilla shock when you see it for the first time. It's been bouncing up and down for a few weeks 92 - 98 cents. This morning the gas stations had temporary displays up $104.9 per litre. Only the Sunoco stations have 4 digit price signs. For the Americans a litre is about a quart. There are 3.78 litres to a US gallon so the price this morning was $3.96 for a US gallon. :realmad: :angry: :dizzy: :cry:

I understand the US has built no refineries in the past, is this also a problem for Canada? Don't know very much about their infrastructure. Is the majority of oil bough from USA or Russian imports?

Sean, haven't seen a Get Go yet but will keep eye peeled for one.

[topsites]

It has reached $3.00 a gallon in California and some other places here in the States. In Michigan where I live, it is around $2.65 a gallon. This has gotten ridiculous. Gas prices are up 33% over last year I think I saw on the news. If I raised my lawn prices 33% I would be out of business in no time. I have already posted my resume on Monster.com and CareerBuilder.com and am trying to leave the industry altogether. Figured I should try and use my Bachelor's Degree for something else. By next spring, I doubt I will be in business anymore if I find the right job in the next 6 months.

Ok now lets keep one thing in mind:
With ALL my equipment AND the truck, I burn an average of 1 gallon of fuel per yard serviced. Of course this doesn't include estimates AND it also doesn't include those drive-by deals where you made the mistake of assuming it needed cutting and then it didn't (what really frustrates me are the few customers who like to cut it themselves about once/ twice a year) AND it doesn't include everything else that goes up in price (parts, supplies, etc).
But ...
Even thou gas is today TWICE as much as 3-4 years ago, it boils down to TWO dollars more per gallon than when I started, that still only raises the cost of the service by TWO dollars... If I charge $35 per average size lawn, it still only costs me TWO more dollars, not 35 + 35.
The bummer of it is, if I spend TWO more dollars then I should technically get SIX more dollars in revenue to keep the %'s right and so my expense budget isn't fully dedicated to fuel... I am also glad everyone's freaking out, I'm tired of running last year's prices and am looking forward to a $5 increase this fall.

[djlawn]

I just payed $2.45 for regular gas on Friday. Iwent camping for the weekend and when I got back, it was up to $2.59. i am paying about $2.69-$2.72 per gallon of diesel. Prices are going up next year. They said that the price of fuel has gone up almost 50% from this point last year. And unfortunetely I use ExxonMobil due to availability of stations, but they are also more expensive.

[GLC51]

Canada is the seventh largest producer of oil in the world 3.1 million barrels per day of which we consume 2.3 bbl/d. According to Oil and Gas Journal, Canada had a reported 178.8 billion barrels of proven oil reserves in 2005, second only to Saudi Arabia. However, the bulk of these reserves (over 95%) are oil sands deposits in Alberta. 99% of crude oil exports go to the US.During the first eleven months of 2004, Canada exported 1.62 million bbl/d of crude oil to the U.S., the single-largest component of U.S. crude oil imports. Canada also sent some 500,000 bbl/d of petroleum products to the U.S. during this period, the most from a single country. The refineries are 50 miles away from where I live. We don't need to import it and it's refined close by. There is lots of oil it's just greed by the oil companies and taxes by the government. I heard the Exxon Mobil made 25 billion in profit in the first quater. The thing is it's not just LCO that suffer it affects everything. The transports use fuel so the cost of shipping goes up, the retailer pays more and raised prices and we get to pay more to buy things etc.So it has a direct and an indirect hit on your wallet.

[out4now]

The transporation charges I knew of. Swift keeps raising their fuel surcharge and the refrigerated units use even more diesel. I never knew Canada had that much oil. Thanks for posting that. Learn something new everyday. 25 billion ;) , I believe it. Almost everything arrives by truck in the US so like you said price of everything goes up.

[coxslawncare]

I have a question kind of one the subject, this is my first year in business what in your opinion is the best way to add a fuel surgarge to a bill. Do I need to give a 30 day notice before doing so or just let them know now that at the end of the month there will be a fuel charge. I was thinking of adding 2.50 a cut to help cover fuel to get there and fuel for the mowers and trimmers. Of course I figured this in when i set my original prices but gas was only 1.65 or so then.Any help would be appreciated. Gas here was 2.37 yesterday morning and passed the saem station tonight and it was 2.49

[jpp]

Does anyone have any "Get-Go" stations near them? We have one and it is a "Giant Eagle" affiliate (grocery store), which has always had a membership card (free) that if you carry it with you when you shop, you are elligible for savings on store products... kinda like in house coupons.... for several years they have had an additional perk >>> the more you buy in the store the more savings you will receive on gas...

To give you an idea of how crazy this is.... yesterday I filled up my Trailblazer and my Z71 Silverado with medium grade fuel (normally $2.50+ right now) for..................................

$0.00....that is somewhere around 40-45 gallons of gas that would normally cost between $100 and $113 and we got it free just becasue we shopped in a store that we have always shopped in, buying the same stuff we always buy...the week before we didn't buy as much and I think we paid $4.50 TOTAL for 20 gallons of $2.50/gallon gas

only "issue" is the wait...I think they have 10 pumps and there is always 30-40 cars deep pumping, waiting, josstling for postion, etc...worth the wait

Sean,

We have those over here in Columbus, Ohio. I knew that you got extra off for shopping but I didn't know that they were that good. I do get my gas from them and it looks like I will be doing the shopping there once a week too. The only kicker the one with the gas pumps is about 15 minute drive from where I live.

JP

[turf9]

Out here it's hanging around $1.10 per L, more at the afternoon rush. Mister doom and gloom on the new says $1.25 per L is not out of the Question by the end of summer. Yippy. :realmad:

[Sean Adams]

JP - its cool - everytime you buy something from the store it shows on your receipt how much you could save on gas...only catch is you have to take your discount within 30 days...every 30 days new cycle starts...worth it though...its just me and my wife and we don't buy a ton from the store, but still save great on gas...worth it even for a 15 min drive