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O.T.-How can South Philadelphia gas stations stay in business?

R

RUhasarrived

All American
May 7, 2007
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For drivers of vehicles with large gas tanks,it's a lot cheaper for them to drive over the bridge into South Jersey given the 60-70 cent gap between stations in both areas.The toll is much cheaper than say the GWB.I guess that time may be a factor for some people.

Another question is why gas is remaining at these high prices?.By 2009 standards,prices should be 20-25 cents lower everywhere with the oil price this low.At the bottom in 2009,I filled up at Sam's in Linden for $1.29.
 
RUhasarrived said:
For drivers of vehicles with large gas tanks,it's a lot cheaper for them to drive over the bridge into South Jersey given the 60-70 cent gap between stations in both areas.The toll is much cheaper than say the GWB.I guess that time may be a factor for some people.
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If I have a car with a 17 gallon tank, then I'll save about $12 by filling up in NJ vs PA (based on your claim that gas is $0.70 cheaper). The toll will cost me $5, so my net savings is $7. To save that $7, I have to drive about 20 minutes, round trip, without traffic (and even longer if I'm not right next to the bridge). I would guess that most people would say it is not worth going 20+ minutes out of their way to save 7 bucks.
 
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Maybe they have a fear of leaving Philly

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And we are amongst the cheapest in the country, and we don't even
have to get out of car.
So self service stations save tons of money on labor, but charge more.
Isn't that ironic.
 
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RUhasarrived said:
For drivers of vehicles with large gas tanks,it's a lot cheaper for them to drive over the bridge into South Jersey given the 60-70 cent gap between stations in both areas.The toll is much cheaper than say the GWB.I guess that time may be a factor for some people.

Another question is why gas is remaining at these high prices?.By 2009 standards,prices should be 20-25 cents lower everywhere with the oil price this low.At the bottom in 2009,I filled up at Sam's in Linden for $1.29.
Click to expand...

In Pennsylvania, there is self-serve, and a lot of people are willing to pay a little more if they can pump it themselves.
 
I never pay any attention to gas prices. But I probably should considering that one of my cars is a Suburban with a 42 gallon tank.
 
RU1977 said:
Are the PA/NJ gas taxes that much different?
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Yes - about 40 cents difference - PA has the highest in the nation and NJ almost the lowest - something like 70 vs 30 cents a gallon. But also bridge adjacent real estate is likely more expensive in Philly than in Camden or other places in South Jersey. Plus potentially different fees and regulations in the different states.

As for why prices arent lower than 2009 - I expect that its because people didnt expect prices to go this low, so they bought futures at a higher price than the current spot price.
 
Sweet crude down another 3% today to 35.65/barrel. Pretty amazing how quickly and severely this market cratered.
 
NickKnight 1 said:
And we are amongst the cheapest in the country, and we don't even
have to get out of car.
So self service stations save tons of money on labor, but charge more.
Isn't that ironic.
Click to expand...
And that's been the debate. Oil/gas companies made the claim gas would be cheaper if they cut the middle man out (gas station owners) and sold it through company owned gas station as self serve. Turns out the oil/gas companies misled people into believing this. In the end the price of gas at self serve stations has always and remains higher than NJ gas stations. Greater profits for the companies without another party involved.

Btw, wasn't the original reason for full service gas stations in NJ was to prevent theft back in the day?
 
RU82 said:
Sweet crude down another 3% today to 35.65/barrel. Pretty amazing how quickly and severely this market cratered.
Click to expand...
And it doesn't look like it's going to upswing any time soon: there's a huge production glut on the world market right now. And with economies slowing, as evidenced by tumbling commodity prices, demand is not revive in the short term.
 
DJ Spanky said:
And it doesn't look like it's going to upswing any time soon: there's a huge production glut on the world market right now. And with economies slowing, as evidenced by tumbling commodity prices, demand is not revive in the short term.
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How do we go from shortages to gas production glut. I'm no expert in
in the field but seems to me making ourselves depended on foreign oil,
it's just plain dumb in every way imaginable, including making enemies of
the US and other western nations filthy rich.
I remember when McCain promised to immediately (if elected) put oil
fields in Utah, which has more oil untapped oil than the whole middle east.
It was going to put thousands of American to work and result in lower
prices. Did not mean to get political, but there were so many things
we could have looked into.
 
NickKnight 1 said:
How do we go from shortages to gas production glut. I'm no expert in
in the field but seems to me making ourselves depended on foreign oil,
it's just plain dumb in every way imaginable, including making enemies of
the US and other western nations filthy rich.
I remember when McCain promised to immediately (if elected) put oil
fields in Utah, which has more oil untapped oil than the whole middle east.
It was going to put thousands of American to work and result in lower
prices. Did not mean to get political, but there were so many things
we could have looked into.
Click to expand...
There has always been a huge amount of oil available, the world has just been at the mercy of OPEC depending on how much they wanted to produce. Right now they're pumping out way more than their thresholds, and due to slumping economies demand has gone down. In addition, oil shale production in North America has increased, adding to the amount available. One reason the ME is producing so much is to drive down prices in order to make oil shale production unprofitable. Really dumb short term thinking.
 
If the taxes are .40 higher in PA, why the 60-70 cent price difference? Shouldn't it be more like 40 cents?
 
RU1977 said:
If the taxes are .40 higher in PA, why the 60-70 cent price difference? Shouldn't it be more like 40 cents?
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According to Gas Buddy, there is about a 50 cent difference between gas on either side of the Walt Whitman Bridge. The additional 10 cents may just be due to the higher cost of real estate and labor in South Philadelphia vs Gloucester City.
 
RUhasarrived said:
For drivers of vehicles with large gas tanks,it's a lot cheaper for them to drive over the bridge into South Jersey given the 60-70 cent gap between stations in both areas.The toll is much cheaper than say the GWB.I guess that time may be a factor for some people.

Another question is why gas is remaining at these high prices?.By 2009 standards,prices should be 20-25 cents lower everywhere with the oil price this low.At the bottom in 2009,I filled up at Sam's in Linden for $1.29.
Click to expand...

Yes, the toll is less than the GWB (or indeed any bridge or tunnel into New York), but it's still $5, and that makes a difference. Moreover, it is not that easy to drive directly to a gas station over the Walt Whitman bridge; it's not as though the driver enters a town. By contrast, east-bound drivers over the Ben Franklin bridge can easily find gas stations and, beside, the price of land in center city Philadelphia makes it impossible to make money on a gasoline station there. So rich Center City residents buy their gasoline in New Jersey.

The spread between gas prices in South Jersey and Pennsylvania is only partly due to tax. I have been told that the distribution system makes it easier to get gasoline into New Jersey than Pennsylvania.

It is very possible that the NJ tax will go up this year. In return, the New Jersey estate tax (which kicks in at $675,000, and has a high rate for estates just over that figure) ) will be sharply curtailed or abolished) At least that's the deal being talked about in the legislature.
 
RU4Real said:
Preemie fuel for the Audi - paid 2.16 a gallon to fill it yesterday.
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Will never understand why diesel cost more in the US. In most of Europe, diesel is much cheaper. Still, even with the diesel premium, I am saving $ with much better mileage than the gasoline version of my Q5.
 
NickKnight 1 said:
And we are amongst the cheapest in the country, and we don't even
have to get out of car.
So self service stations save tons of money on labor, but charge more.
Isn't that ironic.
Click to expand...
Democrats are working the fix the cheapest in the country, and last time I checked, Christie was willing to listen.
 
It is very possible that the NJ tax will go up this year. In return, the New Jersey estate tax (which kicks in at $675,000, and has a high rate for estates just over that figure) ) will be sharply curtailed or abolished) At least that's the deal being talked about in the legislature.
Click to expand...
Sounds like a fair deal to me. Soak the average guy and give relative well off people a tax cut.
 
derleider said:
Sounds like a fair deal to me. Soak the average guy and give relative well off people a tax cut.
Click to expand...

a fair point, especially when you consider that the estate tax usually hits a married couple only at the death of the longer-living. (That's because bequests to a surviving spouse are not taxed). But it's not that hard, given New Jersey real estate prices, to get over that $675,000 threshold. Moreover, New Jersey has an inheritance tax in addition to an estate tax, and no state does likewise.
 
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