JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — If you had to make a stop to fill up your gas tank on Tuesday, you’ve already noticed those prices are creeping back up to those record highs we saw in March.
Even though the price spikes are across the board, it’s the price of diesel that’s actually hit a new record.
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That’s having a ripple effect on all of us.
“It’s just life,” said Eddie, a construction worker who bought a generator to work on a home with no power.
“What can we do?” he said, as he pointed out he had to fill it with three gallons. “Gotta find power somewhere.”
It’s an extra cost, because the Jeep he drives for work used to fill up with: “‘Bout 45, 50 bucks,” he said.
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Now, he said it takes “‘bout a hundred bucks.”
Diesel prices spiked 78% over the last year.
The national average for diesel is at $5.54 a gallon.
That’s up from $3.11 a year ago, according to AAA. And even if you’re not using it, you’re still paying for it.
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One trucker, Jay Fortner, told CBS News it used to cost him $700 to fill up, but: “Now, it’s about a thousand. Yeah, it’s hard to make that up.”
Chief Economist Mark Zandi, who works with the financial company Moody’s, explained to CBS News this cost is trickling all the way down to the consumers.
“Prices are going up for everything that’s shipped,” he said. “When you go shopping at the grocery store, the cost of getting that food on the store shelf goes back to the cost of diesel. Or think about the UPS or the FedEx or Amazon.”
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He says the only way we can catch a break: “the fix here is hopefully, you know, we get more oil supplies.”
“We’re not going to see lower oil prices until towards the end of the year,” he added. “Probably not until this time next year.”
Right now, according to AAA, Florida and Jacksonville both sit below the national average price of $4.37 a gallon for unleaded gas.
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