(WXYZ) — Gas prices in Michigan jumped an average of 32 cents overnight — 29 cents in metro Detroit — leaving drivers, truckers, and small business owners scrambling to adjust.
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The spike is being driven by a combination of global and regional factors. The war in Iran has pushed crude oil prices higher, while refinery issues in the Midwest are compounding the problem locally.
Charlie Brooks, a driver for Detroit-based Fullback Trucking, said the overnight jump is cutting directly into his bottom line.
"If I put a $180 in here to try to fill it up, that's what it used to take the last- about six months ago, it's just only getting to a half tank now," Brooks said. "At the end of the day, man, things still has to be done, the job still has to be done."
James Cameron runs a delivery business and saw the price increases coming. He traded in his box truck last month for a minivan in anticipation of higher fuel costs. Even so, he said the jump is forcing him to make changes at the pump.
"I normally get premium, but I had to drop down to mid-grade today, but I think it looks like I'll be going back all the way to regular unleaded," Cameron said.
Adrienne Woodland of AAA said refinery operations are a key part of what's driving prices higher in the region.
"Refineries do a switch over from the winter blend of gasoline to the summer blend, it takes several weeks. Gasoline stocks drop, but on top of that, we had a power outage at a refinery in Whiting, Indiana, as well as some other issues at refineries in the area, that is really pushing up gas prices in the Midwest," she says.
The impact is being felt beyond the trucking industry. Andre Mack, a college student, said rising fuel costs are making it harder to stay financially afloat.
"It just makes it hard for college students like me to even be able to get out here and work consistently and pay bills, and now the car is almost like another rent at the end of the month," he says.
AAA says gas prices could begin to stabilize once refineries complete the seasonal switch over to summer fuel blends, expected sometime in May. However, prices will remain under pressure as long as crude oil costs stay elevated due to the war in Iran.
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