tom. said:
Then again, if that caught on, diesel fuel would be $4.00. Shhh!
Diesel is already ~$0.60/gal higher than it should be if it was still based on a profit percentage. Stations that sell both are subsidizing gasoline with diesel (ie, charge more for diesel so they can charge less for gasoline).
While this may be popular because people think they're getting a better deal on gasoline, this is NOT good for ANYBODY. When the price of diesel goes up, EVERYONE pays, you just don't realize it.
Every product you buy has been on a truck at some point in its life, and almost everything has been on multiple trucks. For instance, I used to work for a company that did a lot of work for the beer industry. I hauled loads of scrap aluminum from recycling centers to metal processors, loads of glass bottles from glass companies to breweries, and loads of beer from the brewery to the distributor where it went on another truck to get to the liquor store. So, figure raw materials to the manufacturer (and the packaging mfr, and the packaging to the product mfr), products to distribution centers, distribution centers to stores.
Right now I'm carrying a load of paper with two stops (Mt. Joy, PA and Pennsauken, NJ). Yesterday, I dropped a load of those little microwave sleeves that you cook Hot Pockets in at Nestle in Mt. Sterling, KY. Last week, it was packaging for Hershey's Chocolate Pudding, some items that had been returned to Menards stores, some Kraft mac&cheese, paint, and envelopes.
It's easy when you see that big box going down the road to forget that there are real products inside. You buy these products every day, and YOU are paying for the diesel fuel being burned to get it there. When that gallon of milk you bought at the grocery store last week for $2.19 costs $2.39 this week, chances are the price of diesel played a part in the increase.
So, get mad when diesel goes up too!