Local

Metro analysts say gas prices may keep rising for 6 months

ATLANTA — Prices at the pump don’t seem to be slowing down as they continue skyrocketing, and some analysts we might need to get used to it.

As much as the everyday driver is spending, truck drivers across the country are spending a lot of money to fill up the large gas tanks on their semi-trucks.

Channel 2′s Christian Jennings spoke with a local trucking company about how this affects the supply chain, and ultimately, what consumers will pay for it.

Drivers are paying more than they ever have for gas. The national average hit an all-time high at $4.17 a gallon.

Many in metro Atlanta say they’re seeing prices that are even higher.

[DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks]

But with the cost of diesel fuel averaging $4.75, and many stations topping the $5 mark, it can cost truckers thousands to fill up.

“That’s about $1,300 per fill-up per truck,” Tyler Watts, Director of Volume Transportation in Conyers says.

Watts says that $1,300 in gas will only last a driver about three days at best.

He adds that when gas prices spike like this, they have to charge their customers, grocery stores and other places you shop at on a daily basis, more than normal. Those customers will then pass the costs onto their customers.

TRENDING STORIES:

“From our analysts, we see this going up for three to six months. We don’t see anything dwindling in this calendar year,” Watts added.

President Biden has announced that the U.S. is now banning all Russian oil imports, which could keep gas prices on the rise.

Governor Brian Kemp says he is working with lawmakers to temporarily suspend the state’s gas tax.

U.S. Senator Raphael Warnock is also working to suspend the federal gas tax.

“So this is a very common thing that happens every time there’s a huge spike in gasoline is the politicians temporarily suspend the gas tax,” Channel 2 Consumer Adviser Clark Howard said. “Everything that can be done to lessen that impact on families and on businesses is great right now.”

[SIGN UP: WSB-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter]

Jennings also learned that trucking companies are having to raise the amount they’re paying truck drivers to attract new candidates, which can continue raising the prices consumers have to pay.

IN OTHER NEWS: