<body><div><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=3NBJZ7_1FMsPaPg00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=3NBJZ7_1FMsPaPg00" width="1280" height="720" >Prices at the pump continue to climb both in Florida and across the country.Find the cheapest gas prices in the Bay area | Find the cheapest gas prices in Central FloridaAccording to AAA on Monday, the national average is now $4.47 for regular gas.The average price of gas here in the Sunshine State is $4.28 — a 15 cent jump from a week ago and $1.16 per gallon more than a year ago.Prices across the Bay area are slightly higher, with Citrus, Hernando, Hillsborough and Pinellas counties all seeing gas prices above $4.30.Central Florida gas prices range from an average of about $4.24 per gallon to $4.31.Rising gas and diesel prices are cutting into budgets for transportation-related businesses, including Tampa-based College Hunks Hauling Junk and Moving, where some franchisees have seen fuel expenses double this year.AAA says diesel has reached record highs, with the average at $6.49 per gallon, a 70% increase from this time last year.College Hunks Hauling Junk and Moving operates franchises in 40 states, using large and small trucks for moving and hauling jobs. Dan Whalen, the company’s vice president of operations, said fuel is a major part of the budget and that the higher prices are affecting franchise owners’ profitability.“When costs increase to the tune of what we’ve seen so far this year, that obviously has a big impact on the profitability of our franchise owners,” Whalen said.Whalen said some franchisees have reported fuel expenses doubling this year, with some seeing an increase of $100,000.“So that’s certainly been an opportunity for us to really lean into our operations and how we structure our routes, how we manage our schedule and try to figure out how we potentially do more with less,” Whalen said.The company is focusing on efficiency and trying to avoid passing more costs on to customers. Whalen said that while fuel costs have increased close to 50% nationwide, the company has only raised its base price by about 2%.Michael Coon, an economics professor at the University of Tampa, said he does not expect near-term relief in the oil and gas market.“I don’t expect to see any relief in the oil and gas market anytime in the near term,” Coon said.Coon said the continuing war in Iran is creating uncertainty in global oil markets, which affects transportation businesses and prices for goods that are shipped across the country.“It’s going to hurt transportation businesses quite substantially,” Coon said. “But again, anything that we purchase generally gets shipped on semi-trucks across the country. So basically, those costs are going to go into everything that we consume more or less.”Whalen said the company will continue seeking ways to improve routing and scheduling, especially for jobs farther from existing service areas.“There are some jobs that are dispersed further out,” Whalen said. “And if you can kind of get ahead of that and you can layer in some technology to possibly route that a little bit closer to where other jobs are, you might not actually have to layer on those additional charges.”Whalen said the company is monitoring pricing across sectors related to its work, adjusting where it can and trying to hold down customer prices as much as possible.</div></body>

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Prices at the pump continue to climb both in Florida and across the country. Find the cheapest gas prices in the Bay area | Find the cheapest gas prices in Central Florida. According to AAA on Monday, the national average is now $4.47 for regular gas. The average price of...

Pain at the pump: Moving companies among those affected by costs

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Prices at the pump continue to climb both in Florida and across the country. Find the cheapest gas prices in the Bay area | Find the cheapest gas prices in

Pain at the pump: Moving companies among those affected by costs

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