Gasoline-price jolt . . .

[Jamie]

Could the price of gasoline reaching about $3.62 nationally and heading for $4 have a benefit? Drivers of larger vehicles are experiencing a significant jolt. Some are parking their large vehicles and using smaller ones, or are using other means of transportation or car pools. Consider also that sales figures are down for larger vehicles. This trend is good as a move toward more efficient vehicles.

Two decades ago about 20 percent of vehicles sold were SUV or LT (light trucks, which includes heavy-duty pickup trucks). In 2007, the SUV-LT market share had increased to 50 percent. Taller and heavier vehicles use more fuel. Weight is the single most important factor in fuel economy. In general, double the weight means approximately double the fuel.

In contrast, Europeans commute in smaller cars, often with 1-liter or 1.3-liter engines. Why? Fuel in Europe was close to $6 per gallon, even 10 years ago. Common sense and thrift dictated purchase preference. Americans are paying a heavy price because of a love affair with bigger and more powerful vehicles.

Even engine sizes have increased, with midsize sedans offering both 2.5-liter and also 3.5-liter engines. Even though EPA testing often gives only a slight disadvantage to the larger engines, real-world drivers tend to use more of the available power. Perhaps $4 gas will return us to more appropriate choices in what we purchase and how we drive.

[why_not]

I'm sorry, who determines what is an "appropriate" choice in vehicle purchasing?

[Fed Up]

Don't complain about the price of gas if you choose to drive a guzzler. That's appropriate. I loved my Durango but got rid of it because of the cost of gas. I love my little engine now...

[Why_not]

Fed Up wrote:

Don't complain about the price of gas if you choose to drive a guzzler. That's appropriate. I loved my Durango but got rid of it because of the cost of gas. I love my little engine now...

Hats off to you! I have a feeling you just like to complain about things, regardless the reason.

[Freedom]

I'm always amazed at the people at the gas pump filling up their big V8 or V6 SUV or trucks bitching about the price of gas. I fully support their right to drive such a vehicle for whatever reason they choose, however if you choose to go big please don't whine about the cost. Gasoline has been so cheep for so long that I think people think they have a right to cheep gas. Supply and demand dictates prices, not want an desire.

[Fed Up]

Why_not wrote:

<quoted text>
Hats off to you! I have a feeling you just like to complain about things, regardless the reason.

What was I complaining about? Oh wait, you just like to go after people who don't agree with you.

[Why_not]

Fed Up wrote:

<quoted text>
What was I complaining about? Oh wait, you just like to go after people who don't agree with you.

Not true in the least. I welcome opinions that differ from those of myself, as I learn from them. I do, however, get offended when people take it upon themselves to deem what is appropriate and what isn't. I drive a brand new Tahoe, I love it. Unlike others, I do not complain about the rising cost of fuel. If a raise in fuel causes you to change your lifestyle and forfeit luxuries, how financially stable are you? That being said, who's fault is it? People need to expected for things to be handed to them.

[Carol]

Why_not, you are an angry person. I read what the other person said and I happen to agree with it. That person didn't say it wasn't appropriate to drive an SUV, they said that if you drive one you shouldn't complain about having to fill it up with gas. I guess I am not financially stable either because I traded my SUV in for a hybrid. I'll have to let my husband know that according to you we aren't financially stable because we opted to save money.

[Why_not]

Carol wrote:

Why_not, you are an angry person. I read what the other person said and I happen to agree with it. That person didn't say it wasn't appropriate to drive an SUV, they said that if you drive one you shouldn't complain about having to fill it up with gas. I guess I am not financially stable either because I traded my SUV in for a hybrid. I'll have to let my husband know that according to you we aren't financially stable because we opted to save money.

I am not an angry person in the least. Never once will you ever see me complain about gas prices. I simply don't who understand who determines what "appropriate" purchasing is. IMO, if you give up luxuries due to financial standing, stability is questioned.

[Carol]

Well why_not, I never considered my SUV a luxury. Now my hybrid, that's a luxury. It's great for the environment and costs less to maintain. Luxuries, at least to me, have been things like our vacation, our central air conditioning, our house in a nice housing development, jewelry, etc. A car is a car is a car... And since when does saving money have anything to do with financial standing or lack of stability?

[LocalRes]

More pain at the pump results in more employee stress on the job, says Wayne Hochwarter, the Jim Moran Professor of Management at Florida State University’s College of Business.
“People concerned with the effects of gas prices were significantly less attentive on the job, less excited about going to work, less passionate and conscientious and more tense,” Hochwarter said.“These people also reported more ‘blues’ on the job. Employees were simply unable to detach themselves from the stress caused by escalating gas prices as they walked through the doors at work.”

Hochwarter assembled the information by surveying more than 800 full-time employees this spring when gas prices hovered at about $3.50 per gallon.

All of the people surveyed work in a wide range of occupations, primarily in the southeastern United States. All drove personal transportation to work and had an average commute of 15 miles each way.

Survey respondents said gas prices were foremost on their mind, including a disgruntled factory worker who wrote,“I spend more time at work trying to figure out what I need to give up to keep gas in my tank than thinking about how to do my job.”

Among Hochwarter’s findings:

• 52 percent have reconsidered taking vacations or other recreational activities;

• 45 percent have had to cut back on debt-reduction payments, such as credit card payments;

• Nearly 30 percent considered the consequences of going without basics including food, clothing and medicine;

• 45 percent report that the escalating gas prices have “caused them to fall behind financially”;

• 39 percent agreed with the statement “Gas prices have decreased my standard of living”; and

• About 33 percent -- or one in three -- said they would quit their job for a comparable one nearer to home.

Hochwarter’s discussions with employees confirm the study’s results. Many employees report that gas prices rank as the No. 1 water-cooler discussion topic, ahead of family, sports or work, he said. He found little difference in responses among different ages, gender, work tenure and occupations.

“Several employees said they simply could not escape the media onslaught of bad news regarding the future of gas prices, and many reported their financial futures were looking bleaker and bleaker,” Hochwarter said.

As gas prices rise, so does the stress. Consider the words of Sandy, a medical records clerk:“The more it goes up, the more behind I get. If gas goes up to $5 or $6 a gallon, I just don’t know what I’ll do.”

www.consumeraffairs.com/news04/2008/05/gas_pr...

[GREGORY]

I’m surprised that with the rise in gas prices, no one has mentioned the obvious. This is economic terrorism as its purest. The oil-producing nations (some, our so-called allies) have given in to the terrorists and created this situation. They realized that they do not need to blow up buildings and hijack planes to destroy our economy. All they need to do is inflate the cost of oil.

Look at the trickle-down effect of this. We have airline companies merging or going out of business, inflation increasing, unemployment rising and — whether our government admits it or not — we are in a recession. If we look at the whole cause and effect of the rise in the cost of oil, we will come to the same conclusion: economic terrorism.

[Sandy]

I was beginning to think I was alone in welcoming higher gas prices. Even though it hurts my wallet (though not as bad as an SUV captain's), I welcome anything that will decrease the number of road-hogging, view-obscuring and gas-guzzling behemoths. I especially enjoy the SUVs that sport environmentally-conscious bumper stickers! Who are these people kidding?

[Jan]

SUV owners are not the ones whose gas usage is being affected by the rising gas prices. I've yet to hear the driver of one of these "light trucks" say, "I'm going to have to stay home this weekend and car pool next week, because of gas prices." I have, however, heard my college-aged friends say, "I'm not sure how I am going to afford driving to work next week; I've already spent everything I could afford on gas to get to school."

While SUVs are a gross phenomenon, particularly in suburban/urban areas where their numbers far out-weigh the number of people who have conceivable reason (construction work, rough terrain) to drive a monstrosity of that size and wastefulness, I doubt seriously that rising gas prices are going to dent the driving habits of the type who put out the extra money to tower over the rest of the world in the first place.

[Marta]

Of even greater shock to me than the unthinkable prices at the gas pumps is the American public's complacency toward this outrage. Millions and millions of letters should be flooding our Washington representatives' offices.

Instead, we quietly shrug our shoulders, pay up at the pump and listen to the 6 o'clock news people tell us to overinflate our tires.

Until we scream loud enough for the oil cartels and the Exxon/BP/Shell people to hear, this travesty will continue. Protest worked in South America and Lebanon; prices came down.

The notion that prices can be compared to the European market is an apples-and-oranges argu- ment.

Come on, America, speak up! Yell!

[No one in particular]

why_not wrote:

I'm sorry, who determines what is an "appropriate" choice in vehicle purchasing?

Whoever has money for fuel can make that choice. It's awesome to have a Hummer! To pay for it first off, insurance secondly, and gasoline is just an added bonus.

[Amazed]

LocalRes wrote:

Among Hochwarter’s findings:
• 52 percent have reconsidered taking vacations or other recreational activities;
• 45 percent have had to cut back on debt-reduction payments, such as credit card payments;
• Nearly 30 percent considered the consequences of going without basics including food, clothing and medicine;
• 45 percent report that the escalating gas prices have “caused them to fall behind financially”;
• 39 percent agreed with the statement “Gas prices have decreased my standard of living”; and
• About 33 percent -- or one in three -- said they would quit their job for a comparable one nearer to home.

That's amazing to me. I don't see any decline in the number of vehicles on the road nor do I see an increase in the number of occupants per vehicle.

I don't like the higher price of gasoline, but if I have to give up food and medicine for it, I'd seriously rethink my transportation methods or my financial skills.

Apparently the suburbs are alive but not so well!