Crossthread
Posts: 4619
Incept: 2007-09-04
Wilmington, NC
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It's getting right where We've left off, as far as High fuel prices go, the Last time they approached these "Highs" Ancedotial Stories...That We were reading with more regularity, before prices fell... One thing, here; "In the Ghetto", WPD, are using Bicycles and HORSES Patroling the area(s). Example #1 Area businesses battle fuel costs Quote:
As gas prices go up it’s not always possible to drive less.
For many area businesses, meeting the needs of their customers means being on the road.
“A lot of our customers are homebound,” said Anthony Medlin, owner of Johnson Drug & Home Medical.
Medlin estimates that an average day at the three Jacksonville stores could mean 30 deliveries of prescriptions and another 20 for home medical equipment.
Add the locations in Wilmington and Whiteville and Medlin said he has a fleet of 10 vehicles he has to keep fueled. Over the past two years or so, the cost of doing so has doubled.
In a business where payment comes through insurance, Medlin said they work to be as efficient as possible to absorb the costs.
“It’s hard on us,” he said. “We have about 10 vehicles and reimbursement with insurance doesn’t go up with the gas prices.”
Florists in the area say they are hesitant to raise their delivery fees but if gas prices continue to push toward an average of $4 a gallon for regular, it gets harder and harder not to.
“We haven’t yet but if it keeps up like this we’re going to have to,” said Tere Misko of Forget Me Not florist on Gum Branch Road.
Misko said her delivery driver is an average of $60 a day on gas to get orders to all areas of county, from Hubert to Richlands and all the bases.
Orders dictate where they go, leaving it difficult to alter where and how often they are on the road.
At The Flower Shoppe on Western Boulevard, owner Curtis Russell has replaced a gas-guzzler with a Honda Fit, a fuel-efficient car that is still spacious enough for carrying a dozen roses and other orders that come their way.
Russell said he initially purchased one for personal use and then decided to give one a try for business use.
“Ninety percent of what goes out the back door for delivery fits into it,” he said.
Russell said they are doing all they can to hold the line on delivery fees but rising gas prices make it difficult.
“I can eat some of it, but you get to a point you can’t take it anymore,” he said.
And deliveries remain a big part of the business.
Last month, Russell said, they had to rent four vehicles to use in addition to their three vehicles to make Valentine’s Day deliveries.
As of Friday, the average price for a gallon of regular gasoline was $3.75 in North Carolina, up from $3.57 a month ago, according to the AAA Daily Fuel Gauge Report.
The average price of a gallon of premium gasoline exceeded $4 in the state on Feb. 29 and AAA Carolinas reported then that price increases are expected to push regular gasoline over the $4 mark as well in coming weeks.
Increases have steadied a bit but don’t count on any relief at the pumps just yet.
“We’re not seeing prices increase as rapidly. That’s the good news, but the bad news is they are still increasing,” said Tom Crosby, vice president of communications for AAA Carolinas.
Misko said the rising fuel prices affect business more so than her personal pocketbook but it’s an expense being felt by everyone.
“It’s affecting everyone,” she said. “You go to the grocery store and milk costs more. Everything comes from some form of transportation.”
(EDIT) Are Sheeple waking up?(End Edit)...
For area residents who like the convenience of having pizza or their favorite wings delivered to their front door, a small delivery fee is now commonplace, often $1 to $2 per order.
One exception is the Michaelangelos Pizza & Subs with locations in Jacksonville, Swansboro, Cape Carteret, Emerald Isle and Atlantic Beach, which has continued to offer free delivery.
“We’re just trying to keep our customers happy,” said Ted Tripp, manager of the Swansboro store.
That’s not to say the gas prices aren’t being felt.
Tripp said the gas prices affect the drivers who are making deliveries in their personal vehicles but they keep the tips they receive to help offset the cost and customers have been willing to help out.
“I had one driver tell me someone went and got a gas can and put gas in their car as a tip,” he said.
And they do get a lot of pick-up orders.
“A lot of people will pick up their order on their way home from work,” Tripp said.
Whether it’s pizza or packing for a move, businesses go where their customers need them.
For Troy Humphrey Moving & Storage in Jacksonville, that means keeping a fleet of 31 motor vehicles fueled and ready for local moves within the county or state.
An average monthly fuel bill for local moves may be $5,000 or so now but will go up as the busier spring and summer months arrive, said David Humphrey, whose father started the business.
The industry is semi-regulated, which can create some limitations, but Humphrey say they do their best to absorb the costs and keep costs competitive for customers.
Gas prices increases or not, their business is on the road where there customers need them.
“You’re kind of forced to start your engines. There’s very little we can do to cut expenses when it comes to fuel,” Humphrey said.
http://www.jdnews.com/articles/-101538--....As I've Opined here before, Wilmington, is Mostly a *Serviced Based Ecomony*, with expception of the State Port(s)/Corning/PPD & GE, with some smaller industrial plant(s), which either have closed, such as International Paper, GA-Pacific, Nat. Gypsium, while the rest are barely surviving.. I posted a story the other day last week, that, *Invista*, was Laying off a good number of people. (LINK---> http://urethaneblog.typepad.com/my_weblo........ Besides this, We have Our Beaches, (tourism based/service(s), part of the Ecomony that is running; 7 to 8 months "particapting" to the Local "ecomony",, 7/8 months out of the year, which, in turn that HIGH Gas Prices will keep people home, and the "Day-Trippers", (from up-state), at home, up-sate,meaning, including the ones that make a One to 1-1/2 drive down & back, via I-40 & the Research Tri-Angle Park/Raliegh and surrounding area(s). Instead, they'll be Spending discretionary funds close to home. This will be a self-feedback loop, pushing Hotel revenues down, (Plus the Room-occupy "tax"), and Less customers at area(s)business,, such as , Charter Boating fleets,Bait-shops, down to the Kayak Renters, to Bike Rentals on the Barrier Island(s), & (up-scale eateries)... Less people @ the beaches visiting, Thus; Less Jobs, for everyone around, not just for all these Kids going to 2 LOCAL Colleges, CFCC & UNCW, which BOTH have increased Tuition(s)! Example #2 Economy takes its toll on restaurantsQuote:
A peek through the darkened windows shows the ghosts of dinners past.
Empty tables and chairs, some askew; an empty checkout counter; a decorative piece here or there.
Vacant restaurants are scattered across Wilmington and include some well-known names: Flat Eddie's on Oleander Drive; Sticky Fingers at 5044 Market St.; one O'Charleys location at 6 Van Campen Blvd.; Old Chicago at 5023 Market; and the Artisan Market and Cafe in Mayfaire.
Yes, the bad economy has taken its toll on independent restaurants and those of weaker chains since consumer's discretionary income is still lagging, said Paul Stone, president and CEO of the N.C. Restaurant and Lodging Association.
But restaurant vacancies are not abnormally high; rather, they are par for the course, area commercial real estate experts said.
What's more, the rates landlords charge for leases hasn't fallen much – even during the weak economy, said Hansen Matthews, a partner in the Maus Warwick Matthews commercial real estate firm in Wilmington.
Quote:"There's generally more vacancy in restaurant buildings than five or six years ago, but they're starting to lease," (EDIT, ARE THEY REALLY?(End Edit), he said.
The vacancies may come as no surprise, considering Wilmington is a tourist-centric city that has more restaurants than most cities its size.
But those restaurants have to be able to survive the cold months when the tourists are gone.
The reasons restaurants open and close, sometimes in short order, can lie as much in the business itself as in the fickleness of discretionary consumer spending.
Read the other 3 pages @ LINK---> http://www.starnewsonline.com/article/20....Stories from around the country, I'd assume you'll be reading More of'em now... Police Investigate Gasoline Thefts In Edmondhttp://www.news9.com/story/17121600/poli....Victims of gas theft warned not to drive damaged vehiclesRead more: http://www.wxyz.com/dpp/money/auto_news/....Gasoline Thefts Rising
High pump prices have triggered increasingly bold robberies of gasoline. Quote:As fuel prices continue creeping up, gasoline thefts are becoming more prevalent, The Daily, a new tablet-native national news brand, reports. A BP station in Tampa nearly lost 450 gallons of gas when a minivan, with a hole in its floor, parked over the underground storage tank and thieves attempted to siphon off fuel into plastic drums. Alert police officers stopped the robbery, but the suspects managed to get away.
“It was like a James Bond movie where they parked on top of the gas tank, dropped a hose and an electric pump and there they go,” said Lt. Larry McKinnon of the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Department. “If the prices start going up, it’s basic police 101 — we know that thefts are going to start increasing.”
While people have been stealing gasoline for years, the way in which the robberies take place have evolved, said Jeff Lenard, NACS spokesman. Drive-off thefts—filling a vehicle’s tank and leaving without paying—used to be the most common way gas was stolen. But soaring gasoline prices have led to larger thefts.
“The idea is ‘Why steal two gallons for a fill-up when there’s 10,000 gallons in an underground storage tank?’ ” said Lenard. “It’s a sign of the value of the gas. It’s not a sign of desperation. They are transporting to a meeting place and finding out how to sell it.”
From Carthage, N.C. to Glen Burnie, Md., gasoline retailers have experienced larger-scale fuel thefts. In late February in New York City, a police officer stopped Mauro Navarro at the Whitestone Bridge tollbooth plaza after smelling strong gas fumes and noticing an expired registration. Investigators found 410 gallons of gas in the vehicle, which law enforcement attributed to part of a black market gasoline ring.
http://www.nacsonline.com/NACS/News/Dail....
150 gallons of gas siphoned from truck
Kendall County
150 gallons of gasoline was siphoned from a semi-truck parked for four days in a parking lot in the 1200 block of Route 34 in rural Oswego, Kendall County sheriff’s deputies said. The theft occurred between March 3 and March 6. The incident was reported Saturday when the gas cap was found open.
http://beaconnews.suntimes.com/news/crim....
Florida Police on Alert for Gas Thefts
Quote:Florida police are on high alert after they intervened this week to disrupt an attempted theft of gasoline at a Tampa, Fla., BP station, evidence of soaring prices and the safety risks thieves are willing to endure for a fast buck, authorities say.
A deputy with the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office first spotted the alleged thieves in action Tuesday at the station. A minivan was parked over the in-ground fuel tanks and, police later discovered, was siphoning gas into the make-shift storage vehicle, WFTS ABC Action News in Tampa reported.
The suspects escaped in a second getaway car as the deputy drove closer to the gas station, leaving several hundred gallons of gas still inside the van with 25 gallons spilled in the parking lot. Workers were still cleaning the gas out of the sewer on this afternoon, according to the manager.
Marco Ishak, the gas station manager, told ABC News he was surprised by the attempted theft.
Quote:“People are getting desperate,” he said.
The national average for regular gas is $3.59 a gallon, up 40 cents from a year ago and 7 cents from last week, the U.S. Energy Information Administration said Tuesday. The average is higher for the lower Atlantic region, at $3.63, which is why police say there is a growing profit margin in the black market for gas.
Patrick DeHaan, GasBuddy’s senior petroleum analyst, said at least one gas station near the Orlando airport was charging $5.79 a gallon.
Larry McKinnon, spokesman for the sheriff’s office at Hillsborough County who has worked with Florida law enforcement for 35 years , said he has seen about a dozen gas thefts a year, concentrated when gas prices increase.
“It kind of ebbs and flows,” he said. “It will taper off for a while, and, you can bet your dollar, as the prices go up, we’ve told our patrol deputies to be on alert.”
Thieves stole 239 gallons of diesel fuel Feb. 7 from a Hess Gas station in Riverview, Fla., and a similar alleged theft occurred Dec. 27 in Gibsonton. The Gibsonton suspect struck a clerk with his vehicle when he was confronted, authorities said.
McKinnon said consumers might ultimately have to pay higher gas prices to manage the cost of cleanup, inspections and lost gas. It is also possible gas station owners might not be aware of missing gas if thieves are stealing 50 gallons from a tank with a capacity of 5,000 gallons, attributing that instead to a leak.
McKinnon said independent truckers mighty ultimately buy the stolen gas at rest stops or other locations, sometimes for $2.50 a gallon. “It’s kind of like stealing tools from a construction site for other construction workers,” he said.
Thieves rig their vehicles to make a fast escape. In the minivan that was left behind this week, there was a hole drilled in the bottom of the vehicle so a hose could pump gas from the station. The suspects appeared to have stuffed large tanks into a car. In other cases, McKinnon said, thieves have towed a tank behind a car, similar to a pest control vehicle.
“Of course, we know none of them were designed to carry fuel and they’re a deadly hazard. Fortunately, we haven’t had a crash yet,” he said. “But it’s not a matter of ‘if,’ but ‘when.’”
A thousand dollars worth of free gas – stolen from private Windham Township pumps
It may be someone is more than a little worried about a forecast for gas prices to reach as high as a dollar-50 this summer.
Or maybe it’s simply a case someone who just doesn’t want to actually pay for gas at a gas station.
Norfolk OPP is investigating the theft of gasoline from a Windham Road-6 address in Windham Township.
Sometime between Friday evening and early Monday, about a thousand dollars worth of gas was removed from private gas pumps on the property.
Anyone with information about this should call the OPP or Crime Stoppers.
http://cd989.com/2012/03/a-thousand-doll....
As Gas Prices Rise, Some Motorists are Driving Up the Crime Stats
Six reported thefts of fuel in small town Waukee are part of a national trend, experts say. A West Des Moines gas station owner says people are "desperate."
http://marion.patch.com/articles/dispatc....
To end this POST,...
BIO-Fuels are making a comack again,,, egCOOKING OIL,
Towards the *tail-end* of the last time of the, Gas/Diesel run-up in Prices, there were starting of be *thefts* of used cooking oil from restaurants...
That again, (cooking-oil thefts), will be a "Single" of certain markets, (Such as Trucking/transportation etc), that refineing of Cooking Oil, or the Balck-Market for such product is on the rise again.
Rising gas prices create smoking-hot demand for cooking oil
In today's economy, it's tough enough being a restaurant owner, but now you have to safeguard your garbage, too
From California to Maine, thefts of used cooking oil are on the rise — driven by the rising price of oil that makes biofuels more cost competitive with fossil fuels. Like thieves who ransack foreclosed homes for copper wire, higher prices for used cooking oil can attract people with a hunger for crime as well as dinner.
The old cooking oil, which has been used for decades in the chemical and animal feed industries, is now a hot commodity, as biodiesel manufacturers fight for raw materials . Biodiesel is gaining in popularity as a transportation fuel. The largest consumers are fleet operators, including municipal buses and courier firms like FedEx.
The last time cooking oil rustlers were so active was in the summer of 2008 — the last time gasoline prices hit $4.
High gas prices help explain the recent spate of thefts of used cooking oil in Essex, Mass.
In many restaurants, cooking oil and other trash is often stowed away from the restaurant , for the most part, unguarded. Like at Essex's Windward Grille.
"The place is outside and open, anyone really could come and take it," said Vickie Kennesick, manager at the Windward Grille, one of three restaurants stripped of their oil last December.
It's in the open because it's picked up with the rest of the recyclables, such as cardboard, glass and aluminum. Waste companies are currently selling the used oil for 15 cents per pound, vs. 5 cents per pound in 2005.
Once the product is converted to yellow grease — the commodity version of cooking oil — it can be sold for 30 to 40 cents per pound, vs. 25 cents per pound in 2010, according to USDA figures.
The National Biodiesel Board says U.S. biodiesel production tripled for several years in the early 2000s, and capacity is now well above 1 billion gallons annually.
All of this means security has become an issue for restaurant owners. The irony: Despite having to pay more to secure their trash, restaurant owners don't get paid for the old oil. Instead, they receive rebates off future oil purchases or waste removal.
Often, the only benefit to recycling the oil is being a good citizen, helping to reduce the amount of waste in their communities, said Chris Moyer, senior program manager for environmental initiatives at the National Restaurant Association.
"Our membership wants to recycle, they want to compost," he said . "One of our industry imperatives is (environmental) sustainability."
But good intentions are costing restaurants.
Moyer has heard stories about restaurants having cooking oil stolen, and said the solution is to keep recyclables like cooking oil, "under lock and key, inside if possible." This means restaurant owners will need to spend more in a tight economy. Indeed, restaurant suppliers say theft-proof lids for grease containers and locks for recycling bins have become popular items in the past year.
Restaurant owners could avoid all this trouble and just pour the oil down the drain, but that wouldn't be good for the environment, or the plumbing.
Wesley Caddell, co-owner of San Francisco-based biodiesel distributor People's Fuel Cooperative, says his firm works with the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission. It helps the commission find markets for biofuels refined from used oils picked up in the city's "SF Greasecycle" waste fats and oils collection program.
It's an easy way to be a good neighbor, he said, since pouring oil and grease down the city's drains costs taxpayers $3.5 million annually in repairs.
So safe, responsible disposal of used cooking oil has become one more cost of doing business.
For the most part, thieves are not big processors, but smaller producers. In fact, the oil collection and biodiesel refining sectors are still dominated by small operators, and this fragmentation could be spurring more thefts.
Caddell said small biodiesel producers depend upon finding used oils wherever they can, since they compete against big industrial consumers of used oil, like animal feed makers. He said that "it's a battle" today to get the oil "as cheap as you can."
And because biodiesel recipes are readily available online, do-it-yourselfers who've converted their cars to biodiesel are often on the prowl for used cooking oil.
While the Windward Grille theft was a bit disconcerting, Kennesick said the theft wasn't noticed by the restaurant until trash day.
"We didn't really know it was disappearing until the company that collects the oil said 'Hey, there isn't any,' " she says.
A man was arrested a week later by police who saw him draining oil from another Essex restaurant waste oil storage container. It's still unknown whether he was connected to the December thefts.
"Bottom line, it's worth money," said Phil Bruno, general manager at waste oil recycler American By-Products in nearby Lynn, Mass., told a local news station. "There's a lot of people who think they're going to get rich or save a fortune … running their diesel vehicles on cooking oil after it's processed."
And while used oil may be the hot new thing for crooks, NRA's Moyer said these crimes of opportunity "will always be with us."
"It's one of those things that never goes away," he said, adding that restaurants, with their cash volumes, expensive inventories and welcoming environs, will always be a target for thieves.
"There's value in that oil," says Caddell. "In this day and age, there's no such thing as waste."
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“Cognitive Co-Dependency” is when a normal rational person, internalizes irrational illogical presentations, and somehow reconciles them to fit their scripted indoctrination of logical analysis.Quote:Samuel L. Clemens:There is NO Native Criminal Class; EXCEPT for CONgress
Reason: grammer check
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