Record High Gas Spending in 2011, U.S. Consumers Spent $4,155 More On Gas This Year
Even though gas prices have been falling in recent weeks, consumers have spent more money on gasoline in 2011 than any other, according to the Oil Price Information Service (OPIS).
Fred Rozell, OPIS’ Retail Director, says each American household will have spent an average of $4,155 on gasoline 2011, approximately 8.4 percent of an average family’s income, according to the US Dept. of Consumer Affairs.
OPIS’ Tom Kloza reports that as of mid December, U.S. motor fuel prices have averaged $3.5223 per gallon, with that number fractionally lower when the year draws to a close next week.
Based on recent demand trends, Kloza says the total consumers will have spent on gasoline this year should be right at $481 billion, $92 million more than last year. Last year drivers spent a total of $389 billion on gasoline, according to OPIS.
If you’ll recall the pain at the pump consumers endured in 2008, when gas prices averaged well over $4 a gallon at mid-year, the total spending during that year was less than this year – coming in at $448 billion.
Prices didn’t go as high this year, but stayed at elevated levels for a longer period of time. In 2008, prices collapsed in the fourth quarter, along with the rest of the economy.
Gas prices began rapidly rising in late 2010, when normally they go down. The average price at the pump was just over $3 a gallon at the end of last year and continued to rise throughout the winter and spring, peaking at $3.985 a gallon on May 5.
Since then prices have slowly declined, with the national average price of self-serve regular today at $3.21 a gallon, according to the AAA Fuel Gauge Report. Last year at this time the average price was $2.981.
If you or your business has been affected by this year’s high gas prices, you may want to consider investing in a GPS tracking system. A GPS tracking system can help you save time, money and and reduce the amount you spend each year on fuel.
Don’t just take our word for it, the Aberdeen Group recently concluded that GPS tracking systems help companies reduce fuel costs by 13.2% on average.