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Richard Piatt Reporting Oil prices hit a record high for the third straight day in a row and there's no relief in sight. A gallon of gas for your car or truck could hit $3.50 a gallon by this summer, according to some industry estimates.
It's not just at the pump where you'll feel the pinch. Fuel prices are a part of almost everything we do, everything we pay for. The numbers are turning faster and faster at the pump these days. A lot of us don't like to think about how high gas prices are, but you really can't help thinking about it.
Steve Jaynes, Gas Consumer: "It's just part of doing business. I just hope they get it under control in some way."
If not, think about the trucks that carry your food to your stores, your building supplies to your home, hospital supplies to your doctor, and so on.
This time last year, diesel fuel cost about $2.25 a gallon. This year it's more than $2.60 a gallon, and going up. That jump means the trucking industry in the US will spend 236-million dollars more this year than last---a total of 90 billion dollars on fuel--and those estimates are conservative.
Those prices will be passed along to the rest of us in so many ways. Already, Utah Transit Authority has rerouted its busses, a cutback to deal with this reality.
Justin Jones, Utah Transit Authority: "The cost of fuel to run our busses has more than doubled. And so we've had to cut our routes."
School districts also have to fuel up their busses. Other bureaucracies expect to be strained too; for example, Salt Lake County's fleet of 538 vehicles could very well swallow up much more than the 3.6 million dollars already budgeted.
Peter Corroon, Salt Lake County Mayor: "This year we did add more money in the budget because we we're expecting to pay more. But we don't know how much more because the prices keep going up and down."
America isn't the only place watching prices soar at the pump. Drivers in Europe and Asia are feeling the pinch as well.
Gas prices in France hit $6.68 a gallon this week. The price is even higher in Norway, where a stiff environmental tax adds to the cost. Drivers there pay $8.84 a gallon. In the Netherlands, the average price is $6.73 a gallon.
In Japan, the price of oil has risen 50 to 60 percent in the past year. Gasoline currently costs $4.61 a gallon in Tokyo.
