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CLEVELAND - Ohio drivers are paying a record average of $1.95 per gallon for self-serve, regular gasoline, the AAA Ohio Auto Club said. Some are paying more than $2 a gallon for the first time.
"The high prices are certainly a concern," says Susan Stewart, AAA's Ohio spokeswoman.
The previous average record high gas price in Ohio was $1.93, set in June 2000, the association said Thursday.
"It's not Memorial Day, which brings the traditional onset of the summer driving season and an increase in demand, yet prices are the highest we've ever seen," Stewart says.
Jim Pochedly, assistant district manager of a tree and lawn care company in the Cleveland suburb of Solon, says the larger price tag will increase the business' fuel costs, which were nearly $30,000 last year. The company uses fuel for trucks and to run some equipment used to trim trees or do other landscaping work.
"We're telling our guys if you don't need to take a second truck to the job, don't," Pochedly says.
The meter on a pump showed $49.89 when Steve Hartman finished filling up his sport utility vehicle in Cincinnati.
"They won't even take $50 bills here," he says, managing to find some humor in the rising gas prices.
Retiree Roger Meabon, 73, of Westerville, was filling up with gas in Columbus before driving to the Harrisburg, Pa., area to see his son. The station was charging $2.06 per gallon of regular unleaded. So was the station across the street.
"Do I think it's a lot? I sure do," he says. "I think it's price fixing no matter what anybody says because they all go up at the same time."
Ron Hilton, owner of a gas station in the Cincinnati suburb of Anderson Township, says customers have been griping. "It's kind of strange," Hilton says. "They'll come and drop $40 on the lottery like it's nothing, then scream about the price of gas."
Hilton says he was maintaining a price of $1.88 a gallon for regular, while dealers around him had boosted prices to $2.05 a gallon. "We're still making money. We're not being greedy," he says. "We've already sold in three hours what we normally sell in a day."
AAA offered several fuel-saving tips for drivers, including:
-Using one car per household, particularly if families have the option of using a more fuel efficient car over a bigger sport utility vehicle.
-Doing one-stop shopping for groceries, banking and other errands to avoid unnecessary driving.
-Comparing gas prices online, by phone or in the newspaper.
-Driving slower - the faster a vehicle goes, the more gas it burns.
- Avoiding hauling extra weight and keeping luggage inside instead of on top of vehicles, where it battles gas-guzzling wind resistance.
-Keeping cars well maintained.
According to AAA's daily report on gas prices, 12 states have average prices of $2 or more a gallon: Alaska, Arizona, California, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Michigan, Nevada, New York, Oregon, Washington and Wisconsin.
Rising consumption, high crude prices, unrest in the Middle East and low inventory are among the reasons AAA believes the prices are so high.