High gas prices causing some businesses hundreds per day to get around

LINCOLN COUNTY, Ky. (WKYT) - Some central Kentucky businesses are feeling the hurt of higher gas prices. Contractors who have to travel or use large vehicles are spending hundreds, and possibly thousands more with gas and diesel going higher.

It’s simple economics and the rule of being in business. You have to spend money to make money.

“It’s just really expensive and sad,” said Robbie East with East Services Repair and Remodel.

East estimates he’s spending $100-$200 every day just in fuel costs.

“Windshield time is very expensive. You have to make every trip count. Got to really pre-plan your day. Don’t need to be 20 miles away from any hardware store,” East said.

If prices stay at this level or go even higher, at some point contractors have to pass on that expense to the customer. It’s something they don’t want to have to do, but it becomes necessary if anyone is going to turn a profit.

“Over the next six months it’s going to get really tight. We will have to, or we will go under,” East said.

East said he’s pumping $80 every time they stop.

“We are just home based. We stop at the same gas pumps everyone else does. Just more frequently,” East said.

According to GasBuddy, the cheapest gas right now in Kentucky is in the Elizabethtown area at around $3.89 a gallon.

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