{"id":46120,"date":"2022-06-11T12:24:35","date_gmt":"2022-06-11T12:24:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/rising-cost-of-gas-has-some-risking-empty-tank-over-empty-wallet-wral-com\/"},"modified":"2022-06-11T12:24:35","modified_gmt":"2022-06-11T12:24:35","slug":"rising-cost-of-gas-has-some-risking-empty-tank-over-empty-wallet-wral-com","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/rising-cost-of-gas-has-some-risking-empty-tank-over-empty-wallet-wral-com\/","title":{"rendered":"Rising cost of gas has some risking empty tank over empty wallet :: WRAL.com"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<p class=\"byline\">By Joe Fisher, WRAL reporter<\/p>\n<p>As gas prices across the Triangle approach $ 5 per gallon, drivers are more reluctant to fill up, leaving some stranded with empty tanks and other simply deciding to stay closer to home.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I am thinking I need to stop driving as much,&#8221; Robert Rouse told WRAL News as he topped off his tank.<\/p>\n<p>Phillip Locke said he&#8217;s been budgeting money and gas, only buying a few gallons at a time.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cJust enough to get through a couple of days and then I do it again,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>With price fluctuating (but mostly rising) daily, Locke is taking a chance.  And drivers who let their tank get too close to empty risk an even higher cost, according to Joey Menditto, with Benchmark Auto in Raleigh.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou try to keep it above a quarter [tank] in most cars, \u201dMenditto said.<\/p>\n<p>Anything less can cause structural problems.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;The fuel actually keeps the fuel pump cool, and with the temperature outside and everything else you are going to burn the pump up, and it&#8217;s going to fail, and you are going to be on the side of the road waiting for the tow truck to come get you, \u201dMenditto said.<\/p>\n<p>A new fuel pump, he says, could run upwards of a thousand dollars.<\/p>\n<p>Rouse has traded in much of his city driving for walking or biking.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOnce the gas prices got around $ 4.20, that&#8217;s when it significantly impacted my life and my lifestyle,\u201d he said.  &#8220;I am using my bike more frequently than I ever have.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><iframe id=\"20319234-iframe\" src=\"https:\/\/www.wral.com\/experts-5-gas-will-soon-be-a-reality-in-nc\/20319234\/?version=embedded_v2&amp;player_options=%257B%2522embedded_autoplay_next%2522%253Atrue%252C%2522embed_position%2522%253A%2522body%2522%252C%2522context_id%2522%253A%252220324740%2522%252C%2522tagname%2522%253A%2522embed%2522%252C%2522href%2522%253A%2522video-20319234%2522%252C%2522width%2522%253A%2522100%2525%2522%252C%2522height%2522%253A%2522auto%2522%252C%2522local_embed%2522%253A1%257D\" allowfullscreen=\"\" webkitallowfullscreen=\"\" mozallowfullscreen=\"\" class=\"wral-embedded-player\" style=\"width: 100%; height: auto; background-color: transparent; border: 0px none transparent; padding: 0px; overflow: hidden;\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><!-- \/html_validator_ignore --><\/p>\n<p>North Carolina&#8217;s average &#8211; $ 4.66 per gallon according to AAA &#8211; is 52 cents more than just a month ago, and $ 1.78 more than what we were paying a year ago.  The price of diesel is even more painful: $ 5.76 a gallon, up from $ 3.07 a year ago.<\/p>\n<p>Menditto reminded drivers that how they drive can impact how fuel efficient a car can be.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Try to just ease into the throttle and use the brakes less,&#8221; he said. &#8220;Every time you hit the gas pedal you have to use the brakes, too.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Read up on ways to save gas and check out these other tips from AAA:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Combine errands to limit driving time.<\/li>\n<li>Shop around for the best gas prices in your community.<\/li>\n<li>Pay with cash.  Some retailers charge extra per gallon for customers who pay with a credit card.<\/li>\n<li>Remove excess weight in your vehicle.  Every 100 pounds taken out of the vehicle improves fuel economy by 1-2 percent.<\/li>\n<li>Drive conservatively.  Aggressive acceleration and speeding reduces fuel economy.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy, said to expect prices to continue to rise until enough drivers change their habits to reduce demand.<\/p>\n<p>Some experts believe the national average for a gallon of gas could reach $ 6 by August.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"related-assets g-full story-left\" id=\"more-on-this\">\n<h2 class=\"h-6\" style=\"margin:0px;\">More On This<\/h2>\n<\/aside><\/div>\n<p>    .<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Joe Fisher, WRAL reporter As gas prices across the Triangle approach $ 5 per gallon, drivers are more reluctant to fill up, leaving some stranded with empty tanks and other simply deciding to stay closer to home. &#8220;I am thinking I need to stop driving as much,&#8221; Robert Rouse told WRAL News as he &hellip;<\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more\"> <a class=\"\" href=\"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/rising-cost-of-gas-has-some-risking-empty-tank-over-empty-wallet-wral-com\/\"> <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Rising cost of gas has some risking empty tank over empty wallet :: WRAL.com<\/span> Read More &raquo;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"default","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true},"categories":[8],"tags":[116,114,4622,111],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/wwwcache.wral.com\/asset\/news\/local\/2022\/06\/03\/20313975\/DSC_2286-DMID1-5v3qmbb7c-640x480.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46120"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=46120"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46120\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=46120"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=46120"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=46120"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}