His job: selling gas for $4 a gallon
By Matt Collette, Globe Correspondent
Bob Doucette has owned North Wilmington Citgo Services on Middlesex Avenue in Wilmington for decades and times have never been so tough. His business has dropped off 20 percent in the past year, he said, and he’s had to change the ways he’s done business his whole career.
He said he buys gas about every five days. Monday’s order cost him $45,000.
“That’s the highest. First load of gas I bought was $6,000,” he recalled. “That was back in 1958.”
Gas at Doucette’s full-service station broke $4 per gallon today, rising to $4.08 for regular. “It’s gone up 20 cents in the last week,” he lamented.
“I’ve seen the good times and the bad times, and these are very bad times,” Doucette said. He said he’s trying to run his station the way he always has, but economic conditions are making his station feel like a thing of the past.
He’s had to lay off two employees in the past year and is considering changing his closing time from 10 p.m. to 8 p.m. He’s seeing his regulars less frequently because they're just not buying as much gas.
At the same time, he said, he hasn't heard too many complaints. “Not many people are complaining because they’ve come to expect it,” he said.
Gas that costs more than $4 a gallon has begun to arrive in Massachusetts -- and not just on Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket. Dalton’s Gulf in Medford, for example, is charging $4.19 a gallon for self-service unleaded and Arbuckle Mobil in Needham, a full-service station, is charging $4.01.
The average price across the state today is $3.79, said Mary Maguire, director of public and legislative affairs for AAA Southern New England. Prices have increased for six consecutive weeks and are the highest they’ve ever been, shattering a record set during Hurricane Katrina, Maguire said. Experts, she said, expect the average to go even higher.
Meanwhile today, the state Office of Consumer Affairs and Business Regulation, said that with prices soaring and the summer travel season set to begin Memorial Day weekend, state inspectors had been conducting spot checks statewide of gas pumps to make sure that drivers are getting their money's worth. The office also offered tips for saving money on gas from the Federal Trade Commission.
Back in Needham, at Arbuckle Mobil, an attendant who didn't give his name said both drivers and gas stations are doing their best to cope with high prices.
"People are just buying the gas because that's all they can do and we're just trying to price it as good as we can," he said.
