Businesses, schools also see benefit from fuel-price drop

It's not just drivers who are spending less at the pump these days. Businesses are, too.

The price of oil slipped below $31 a barrel Tuesday, about a 20 percent drop since the first of the year.

Because oil prices have reached their lowest level in 12 years, some oil companies are planning for layoffs. The drop also may negatively affect companies that do business with oil producers.

But the lower prices provide relief for motorists. The Energy Information Administration figures the average U.S. household saved about $660 on gasoline last year compared with 2014. They predict the average price for gasoline this year will be $2.03 a gallon.

Local businesses and schools also are seeing effects from dropping prices.

Steaven Cleek fills up his truck with gas Wednesday at Semo Gas in Cape Girardeau. (Glenn Landberg)

"We burn about $10,000 of fuel a month," said Tom Mogelnicki, executive director of the Cape Girardeau County Transit Authority. "So that makes a big difference."

When the gas prices were higher, Mogelnicki said, it did not raise its rates, "so we're happy to see it come back down."

Wade Bartels, an associate superintendent with the Jackson School District, said the district also is finding relief in the recent price drop in diesel. Geographically, Jackson is the second-largest district in the state, and it owns its own fleet of buses.

"We have about 70 buses, and we run 55 routes a day," Bartels said in December. "Fluctuations in diesel prices have certainly helped us out, and if they stay low, we'll spend significantly less this year than we have in the past."

This is not necessarily the case for other schools in the area, however. The Cape Girardeau School District is not greatly affected by the fuel-price drop, because it does not run its own bus service.

"It would just give us a little extra cash for our maintenance trucks," Dana Saverino, communications director for the district, said last month.

She said the change in prices won't affect transportation with their students.

The lower prices also benefit those who employ over-the-road truck-driving services.

Jeff Buchheit, vice president of Buchheit Logistics, said lower diesel prices means his customers pay less in freight rates and fuel surcharges for goods being transported.

AAA reports in Missouri, the price of diesel is $1.886 per gallon. At this time last year, diesel was $2.691 per gallon.

AAA reported the average price at the pump in Missouri is $1.632 and a national average of $1.946.

In 2008, oil topped $100, where it remained during the early part of this decade. But now that prices have begun to drop, some analysts are forecasting prices will drop to $10 a barrel.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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