Filling up the fuel tank for Labor Day weekend journey will likely be considerably cheaper than throughout the Fourth of July earlier this summer time, as pump costs preserve falling throughout the Bay State.
The common for normal fuel in Massachusetts is now precisely at $4.00 a gallon — approach down from the file excessive of $5.04 in mid-June. The common will seemingly break the $4 mark within the subsequent few days with costs persevering with to nose-dive.
The $4.00 common is 47 cents cheaper than a month in the past. Meanwhile, the nationwide common is eighteen cents decrease than the Bay State, coming in at $3.82 forward of the vacation weekend for the unofficial finish of summer time.
Inventories are decrease within the Northeast in comparison with different components of the nation, resulting in larger costs.
“Prices continue to fall steadily, however, and that’s good news for motorists planning their last summer driving trip over the upcoming Labor Day weekend,” mentioned Mary Maguire, AAA Northeast’s director of public and authorities affairs.
According to an off-the-cuff regional survey of AAA members, 31% say they plan to journey for Labor Day weekend, whereas 49% won’t journey. Also within the survey, 70% of the respondents admitted that inflation –together with larger fuel and airfare costs — performed a task of their journey selections.
However, a major variety of respondents mentioned they plan to journey within the remaining months of the yr or in 2023, particularly with airfare costs anticipated to say no this fall and winter.
After fuel costs spiked within the spring amid Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, costs have now declined each week of the summer time.
“It was a dizzying time as gas prices surged ahead of summer, which caused many Americans to rethink their summer travel plans, only for the longest decline in gas prices since the pandemic to start providing meaningful relief,” mentioned Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum evaluation for GasBuddy. “As the sun sets on summer, gas prices are in far more familiar territory and could continue to decline well into fall, barring major disruptions from hurricanes and the likes.”
For these hitting the highway on Labor Day weekend, AAA encourages drivers to go away early if potential. Also, whereas fuel costs are falling, folks ought to refill their tank earlier than they hit the highway as a result of fuel is often pricier at common vacationer locations.
Ahead of the vacation weekend, state officers have been reminding folks to not drink and drive.
“Over #LaborDay weekend in 2020, 38% of traffic fatalities in the US involved a driver who had been drinking,” MassDOT Safety tweeted. “The choice is simple: If you’re drinking, don’t drive. #DriveSober or Get Pulled Over.”
Source: www.bostonherald.com”