Oct 27 2007
Accurate lowest gas price indicator
I live in Ontario where gas price flucturates like the ocean tide in an unexpected fashion. The price starts at the high, sliding down day by day, and hiking to the peak with no warning. When a long weekend is coming, you can be sure that the gas price is sky high on Friday and becomes reasonable on Sunday. It appears that gas price is not tied to the crude oil price at all. With a high degree of certainty, I’m not the only one playing the gas price game by looking for an accurate lowest price indicator to reduce my mileage cost. The tricky part is to find the lowest price point. After long observations, I find such an reliable lowest gas price indicator.
We have three gas stations, that is Esso, Canadian Tier and Sunoco, on the same busy street. Since being located side by side, the Canadian Tier and Sunoco gas stations are always in sync setting their gas price. However Esso synchronizes its price with the others except right before a price hike. Often times, Esso gas price is over a cent higher than others for about an afternoon and the evening. Aha, the indicator is simply when disparity prices are on display.
After the joy of beating the gas stations, I started looking for reasons behind Esso’s price policy. A few years back, Esso implemented its RFID based Speedpass which allows people wave it at the pump, gas and go. It remembers your preference such as “need receipt” and “no thank-you for car wash today”. In the bitter winter of Canada, this means avoiding 3 button presses and 30 seconds in the bone-chilling wind. Besides you earn points for free car wash. The Speedpass was most welcomed by consumers and Esso establishes a lead in convenience and a brand image. It seems that Esso is leveraging these for a better margin.
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Over in the south we are paying $4.25 for regular unleaded. The cost of diseal fuel is just another .50 to .75 cents. If gas prices continue to rise which they will, people will have to make changes in their daily routine. No more extra trips to the mall or grocery store. Heck, I even stop going to the gym after work because it’s not on my back home. I recently read bicycle stores are seeing and influx of sales along with scooters, and car-pooling. Lifestyles are changing because of this. I wonder how far it will go.