The problem with economics 101 is that the gas companies are doing bizzaro economics. More money in this case doesnt seem to make more oil. They can only produce so much per day. I saw on CNN (which of course has to be true :cool: ) that global demand actually dropped 1.9% last quarter and they raised gas prices. Demand goes down: gas price goes up, demand goes up: gas prices go up. Its bizzaro economics.

There's lots of interesting statistics and info on SUV's on http://www.suv.org.

Whether it's all true or not is the question, but the site comes across well written with lots of cited info from reputable sources. Some of it comes across a bit "Green Peace", but for the most part it's good stuff.

There were certain things that I didn't know about SUV's, like how they are exempt from gas guzzler tax (more profit for the car companies) and how they have lower fuel consumption standards because they are considered "light trucks".

I think there is a place and time for the SUV. In fact, my wife and I own one. However, we went with a smaller V6 powered one, based on a car chassis that gets somewhat better gas mileage than it's V8 counterparts (we average about 18-20 mpg around town and maybe 23-25 on the highway). We also try to use my car as much as possible, which has a 4 cyl and gets 25+.

Neil Cavuto on Fox News nailed Senator Durbin on that very point, and asked the senator about the "Tax Gouging" and what could be done about that. In fine politcal fashion, the senator side-stepped the question and kept up with the mantra of "punish the evil oil companies."

Maybe we can get the oil refining outsourced like everything else has been in this country, mainly due to government restrictions and interference! China is negotiating with Cuba to conduct offshore drilling there, maybe they'll sell us cheap gas once Washington beats down our oil companies.

P.S. I got the above info from Rush Limbaugh, so it MUST be true!:rolleyes: (At least he had audio clips of Cavuto & Durbin)

Well, US consumption may have dropped by 0.6% or global consumption may have dropped by 1.9 %, but what is important is that these are the first signs of drop in demand. Up until now people were ignoring the price hikes. Now finally, the demand is dropping. The demand has to drop very little to significantly affect the price of oil.

The price of oil has peaked based on the current supply, and the current demand.

If oil stays at $75 or higher then UPS' profits will be even bigger than they currently are! Can you say fuel surcharge! OBTW, the surcharge more than makes up the increased cost of fuel. So, as the price of oil goes up, UPS' profits go up too!

What a concept
 

If the price of fuel was to come down say 10 percent, is it UPS' policy to drop the fuel surcharges accordingly? I can see your point that UPS has great profit potential with customers willing to pay these surcharges. The airlines have been unable to crack this code.

That is nice that they can only refine so much oil per hour, per day, etc. There is not a shortage of fuel right now. The oil companies are greedy and the gov is greedy. Screw both of them.

My truck has not moved in over 3 weeks.

I will no longer by any Exxon/Mobil products. That sucks because I like mobile one oil.

Getting ready to trade my miata (30mpg) for a vw tdi (40+mpg)

Yes, the fuel surcharge varies with the price of oil.

Hi C5Guy!

Any comment on the C-5 crash at Dover? What happened?

thanks,

Seaber

Let me guess...youre a republican. The fact is we pay less taxes on fuel than every other developed nation. Yup, Gas is the same price on the spot market, but the UK for example taxes it so that its 50% higher than what we pay.
In addition, we americans pay the third LEAST taxes in the developed world. Third behind Ireland and I cant remember who else in Europe.
I bet you think we shouldnt pay any taxes at all and that the services government provides will just fall from the skies, huh? Its that same attitude that the public has about airline travel, and why the airlines cant raise that fare 20 bucks to pay for your salary.