Rising fuel costs hurting, helping economy in Utah

When gas prices skyrocketed, the profits from Kris Chrisman's independent business reflected a sad trend — empty.

"It has made a big difference in the profit margin," said Chrisman, a Vernal resident and owner of pest control and lawn maintenance company, Pest Busters. "We go through a lot of gas. We had to raise prices, and we've lost customers" because of it.

Raising prices is just one of the things her small business has had to do to compensate for the current price of gas — an average of $2.40 per gallon in Utah.

For instance, Pest Busters no longer sets appointments and instead drives one continuous "loop" to efficiently get to their clients in the shortest distance. Gas prices have hit the business so hard that Chrisman says there are days when she can barely pay her workers.

And she's not alone. Many Utah businesses that rely on transportation are reaping the negative effects of record-high gasoline.

"It's called 'increase expense,'" said Ron Greensides, vice president of locally owned and operated Sugar House Moving & Storage Co. "We have to stay away from small moving jobs because they don't have the margin of profit the larger ones do. It's getting to that point where we're going to have to start charging an additional fuel surcharge."

Although most moving companies now charge customers for gas costs, Sugar House Moving & Storage Co. had held off. But now that the company's over its budget and still must use 20 diesel trucks to serve Utah during the busy moving season, "We have to," Greensides said.

"I hope there's a resolve to it soon. I think it's a great concern to everyone," he said.

Whether you're a local business owner or a worker, gas prices hit one of your most fragile spots: the checkbook.

"It's starting to hurt pretty bad," said Mike Nelson, a Morgan resident. "It's definitely putting a dent in the budget."

Nelson makes a 130-mile round trip to Salt Lake Valley for his job in Murray. He drives an economy car to cut down on costs and has even thought about changing routes and drive times to avoid traffic.

"I go through two tanks a week. It's a lot of money. It adds up."

As far as compensating for the loss, "I slowed down a bit," Nelson said, laughing, but there's not much else he can do.

"It's affecting us so much that we have our Ford F-150 pickup truck that's been parked for three months. We're going to sell it. I don't think the truck has gone farther than a mile from the house in three months."

Still renting RVs