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Gas prices have increased every day this week, even though the price of oil has been dropping. The current average for a gallon of regular unleaded gas in the US is $3.98, according to the AAA Fuel Gauge Report.
Wisconsin’s average price for a gallon of regular unleaded gasoline reached a new all-time high of $4.115 today, surpassing the previous record of $4.111 set on July 17, 2008. In Michigan, a gallon of regular gas climbed to $4.26, which tops the states record high price of $4.21, set in July 2008.
In West Virginia, gas prises rose 5 cents to $4.155 per gallon, surpassing the previous all-time high of $4.12 a gallon reached in July 2008. In Indiana, the average price of a gallon of regular gas hit a record high price of $4.25. The previous record high was $4.17 a gallon, set in September 2008.
The New York Mercantile Exchange reported that oil futures settled at $99.80, down $9.44 or 8.6 percent for the day. This is the first time since March 16 that oil prices closed below $100.
Fleet managers who used a GPS fleet tracking system reported a nearly 25% reduction in downtime and costs from maintenance management, according to a recent study published by TrackNet. The results were announced this week in a company press release which also discussed some of the myriad benefits and solutions that a fleet tracking system can provide.
The study mentioned several fleet tracking benefits, including a reduction in fleet maintenance costs and and increased driver safety. In example, driving at 70 mph takes 159% more horsepower and burns excessive fuel when compared to driving 50 to 55 mph. Speeding means more wear and tear on the engine, resulting in higher fuel and maintenance costs. Each mile per hour above the ideal 50 to 55 mph a vehicle drives increases its fuel consumption by 1.5%.
A telematics based GPS fleet tracking system enables fleet managers to monitor speeds and encourage drivers to drive slower, therefore protecting the vehicle fleet.
Gas prices have risen for the past 42 consecutive business days and have increased 33 cents in the past month, closing in on the record 54 day streak of consecutive increases set from April 28-June 21, 2009 when the price climbed from $2.05 to $2.69 per gallon — an increase of 64 cents. A gallon of regular gas is averaging $3.97 a gallon in the US. This is an increase of 10 cents from one week ago, and $1.07 increase from one year ago.
In the last week, seven states have seen their average price rise to $4 or more for a gallon of regular gasoline, bringing the total to 13 states plus the District of Columbia at or above the $4 mark: Hawaii, California, Connecticut, Illinois, Alaska, New York, Michigan, Indiana, Ohio, Wisconsin, Rhode Island, West Virginia, Washington state and Washington, D.C. Several analysts are predicting that the majority of states will see $4 a gallon gas by the end of the week.
ast week thirty-six tortoises were released into desert near Las Vegas. The endangered desert tortoises were outfitted with small radio transmitters and GPS tracking devices attached to their green and brown shells.
All of the tortoises are being tracked with a VHF radio transmitter roughly the size of a $3 stack of quarters, and 24 of them are also sporting GPS tracking units double the height of a deck of cards but not as wide or long. The portable technology carried by the tortoises will make it easier for the zoo’s workers to learn about the creatures’ movement patterns and habitat conditions.
The San Diego Zoo placed the tortoises in the wild after they were nurtured at the Desert Tortoise Conservation Center, a partnership between the zoo and federal and state agencies. This is the first time a high-tech GPS tracking device has been affixed to the exoskeletal creatures to monitor their movements. In 2009, the San Diego Zoo began partnering with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which oversaw the Desert Tortoise Conservation Center. Last year, the center released 100 tortoises into the desert.
Last week GPS giant TomTom apologized publicly after it was revealed that the company had sold user’s data to police in the Netherlands. The GPS data was then used to help police set speed traps for motorists.
Because sales from TomTom’s GPS devices has really slowed down, the company has been looking for other ways to maintain revenues. The company has been selling users’ GPS data to several different places, not just the Dutch police.
Chief Executive Harold Goddijn said that he was not aware that the GPS data would be used in the battle against speeding motorists and said the company would change its licensing agreements to stop the practice.
as prices have been rising and there seems to be no end in sight. For many cities across America, current prices are record high for this time of year. Gas prices are over $4 a gallon in 12 states plus the District of Columbia. Most analysts predict $4 will become the norm nationwide by the end of this week.
Gas prices have been on a steady incline since the beginning of February. 2011. With oil prices at their highest levels since 2008, gas prices are expected to continue climbing higher this summer, according to the U.S. Energy Information Association.
A lawsuit was filed last week in Michigan against Google for tracking and storing users’ location data from the Android. The $50 million lawsuit against Google attempts to stop the company from selling phones with software that tracks user location. A similar lawsuit was recently filed against Apple for the same reasons – privacy violations with iPhone’s location data logging process.
Google admitted last week in gathering location-related info, which includes GPS, Wi-Fi addresses, and device IDs, from Android-based devices but explained that this is untraceable to a particular user. For safety purposes, users have the choice to disable GPS tracking, but this will reduce the accuracy of positioning in maps and location-based services.
The average price for a gallon of regular unleaded gas in the US is currently $3.94. Current prices are 17 cents less than the highest ever recorded price, $4.11, set in July 2008. One month ago gas prices were averaging $3.61. One year ago US gas prices were averaging $2.88.
The average price for diesel fuel in the US is $4.15 per gallon.
This week the House Energy and Commerce Committee sent letters to Apple, Google, HP, Microsoft (MSFT), Nokia and RIM requesting more information about how their mobile devices use and store users’ location data. The Senate is going to address the privacy concerns in a hearing set for May 10, 2011.
The issues started last week when it was revealed that Google and Apple are tracking users’ locations. After reports began to surface that Microsoft Windows Phone 7 operating system is also collecting users’ location data, Microsoft has admitted that Windows Phone 7 does track users’ locations.
Oil prices are hovering above $112 this week. Oil prices are currently up 15 cents at $112.36 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, as of Wednesday April 27, 2011. Oil prices increased after a U.S. Energy Department report showed that the gas stockpiles are at the lowest level since August 2009.
Gas inventories have dropped about 14% in the past nine weeks. With the peak summer driving season coming over the next 90 days, concerns about reduced gas supplies are increasing. Gasoline prices typically fall in the winter and rise in the spring as refiners switch to more expensive summer blends of gasoline and the demand for travel increases. Federal and local laws require different additives in summer to preserve air quality, but more expensive additives tend to drive up the price.
Violence and uncertainty in the Middle East and Africa is continuing to restrict the world’s oil supply, further driving oil and gas prices higher. With gasoline supplies falling and retail prices increasing, refiners can pay more for oil, and drivers can expect to pay more at the pump.
gps-google-iphoneA class action lawsuit was filed this week against Apple (AAPL) over the iPhone’s ability to track and store user’s location data. According to the lawsuit, filed by two men in Florida, Apple collects users’ location information covertly and the way they go about it is is a violation of law. According to the lawsuit documents filed, “users of Apple products have … no way to prevent Apple from collecting this information because even if users disable the iPhone and iPad GPS components, Apple’s tracking system remains fully functional.”
Apple’s stock tumbled yesterday as news of the lawsuit was made public.
The issue of iPhone location tracking made headlines last week when two researchers published a blog post that said iOS 4+ devices collect a users’ location in an unencrypted file known as “consolidated.db.” The consolidated.db stores user information including latitude-longitude coordinates and a time/date stamp.
The fact that Apple was collecting this user location data to serve up location-based services was no big surprise. But the researchers became concerned when they realized that this information is stored in an insecure manner, and transferred to a user’s PC when they sync their iOS device, whether they like it or not.
The average price for a gallon of regular gas in the US has increased for 35 days straight. Gas prices have increased over 32 cents per gallon since March 22, 2011. The current average price for a gallon of self-serve regular gasoline is $3.86, according to AAA. This is up over 3 cents from a week ago, 29 cents from30 days ago and $1.01 from one year ago.
Drivers in most states will likely continue to see gas prices continue to increase over the next few months for several reasons.
Oil is holding its high price at over $112 a barrel. Yesterday three Texas oil refineries lost power, which will drive prices even higher. Oil analyst Tom Kloza says the shutdowns may have cut off 300,000 barrels of daily production.
Gas companies are currently in the process of changing from winter-blend to summer-blend gasoline, which is more expensive.