Better Fill up today

[Wilma]

Half ton pickups are not classified as farm vehicles in Elk County.  Doesn't matter what you use it for.  You pay the full value in taxes and tags.  If it is considered a farm vehicle it can be depreciated for income tax purposes.  In that case the cost of the tags and taxes are also deductible as a farm expense.  Also, the cost of the gasoline, no matter how much it is, is a business deduction if used for business purposes.  Pam, your truck, since it doesn't go anywhere except on farm business would be considered a farm vehicle and if you file a Schedule F, you can put it on a depreciation schedule and use the yearly depreciation as a deduction.

There used to be a farm tag available for pickups that were used for farming, but then everybody started driving trucks for everything, so Kansas. anyway, took that little concession away from the farmers.

[pam]

yeah I know Wilma, just don't hassle with it. Think farmers can use all the help they can get tho.

[frawin]

We have along way to go but this is a start:
gas goes up, driving goes down

(CNN) -- At a time when gas prices are at an all-time high, Americans have curtailed their driving at a historic rate.

The Department of Transportation said figures from March show the steepest decrease in driving ever recorded.

Compared with March a year earlier, Americans drove an estimated 4.3 percent less -- that's 11 billion fewer miles, the DOT's Federal Highway Administration said Monday, calling it "the sharpest yearly drop for any month in FHWA history." Records have been kept since 1942.

According to AAA, for the first time since 2002, Americans said they were planning to drive less over the Memorial Day weekend than they did the year before.

Tracy and Adam Crews posted on iReport that their annual Memorial Day weekend has traditionally involved camping and fishing.

"Well, due to the continual rise in gas, we felt our only recourse was to nix the idea this year and stay home" in Jacksonville, Florida, they wrote.

Instead, the couple said they "decided to camp out in the backyard. We set the tent up, just finished installing our above ground pool, and cleaned up the grill. ... We have ourselves a campsite! It's been a blast!"

Nakeisha Easterwood of Smyrna, Georgia, said with gas prices on the rise, she sometimes catches rides with friends, and doesn't drive into town more than once a day. "It's crazy," she said.

According to AAA, the national average price for a gallon of regular gas rose to a record $3.936. That compares with an average price per gallon of $3.23 last Memorial Day.

"With it being near $4 a gallon, you definitely have to drive slower and pick and choose when you're going to do it," said Steve Kahn of Roswell, Georgia, at a Memorial Day festival in Atlanta.

Some Americans have turned to public transportation. Ridership increased by 2.1 percent in 2007, in part because of rising gas prices, according to the American Public Transportation Association.

Americans took 10.3 billion trips on public transportation in 2007, the highest level in 50 years, the group said.

The Energy Information Administration says gas consumption for the first three months of 2008 is estimated to be down about 0.6 percent from the same time period in 2007.

For the summer season, gas consumption is expected to be down 0.4 percent from last year.

[frawin]

The price of Diesel in England is $9.50/per Gallon in US Dollar equivalent:

U.K. Trucks Stream Into London to Protest Fuel Prices

By Robert Hutton

May 27 (Bloomberg) -- As many as 1,000 truck drivers were converging on London to protest rising fuel prices and put pressure on Prime Minister Gordon Brown's government to lower transportation taxes.

Transaction 2007, the group organizing the demonstration, said it was expecting between 600 and 1,000 vehicles to arrive in London by 11:30 a.m. local time. There will also be a protest in South Wales.

Average crude oil prices have risen by a third since the start of the year. A liter of diesel fuel now costs around 1.27 pounds ($2.50) in London -- the equivalent of $9.50 a U.S. gallon. More than a half of that is tax.

``This isn't just a crisis, it's a meltdown,'' said protest spokesman Peter Carroll, who is managing director of Seymour Transport Ltd, a haulage company with 50 vehicles based in Kent, southeastern England. ``Quite a lot of owners of companies have come.''

In a separate move, 35 out of the 351 lawmakers in Brown's Labour Party have signed a parliamentary motion calling on Chancellor of the Exchequer Alistair Darling to reconsider plans to increase the tax on the most-polluting cars from next April.

The opposition Conservatives say that more than 1 million families will see their car tax double, and more than 3.7 million people will pay 90 pounds a year more. The government says 24 of the 30 most popular models of car will be taxed less.

Protests over fuel prices by truckers brought roads in Britain to a near standstill in 2000 as refineries and depots were blockaded. The Treasury in 1999 abolished its ``fuel duty escalator,'' which boosted gasoline taxes more quickly than inflation to help plug a budget gap.

Darling has already backed down to lawmaker pressure over one tax change this month, borrowing 2.7 billion pounds to fund a tax rebate for middle- and low-income families after an earlier change left some of the poorest worse off.

[Teresa]

This just in.....  FROM  THE CNN INVESTIGATIVE BUREAU

        CNN reports that gas stations across the nation will start showing
porn movies on the screens of the pumps so that you can see someone else
get screwed at the same time you do!!!!!!!!!

[frawin]

It appears that the higher prices are having an effect on the demand and the price. Crude is trading down $2.00 in overnite access.

Oil Falls to Lowest in a Week on Concern Prices Hurting Demand

By Grant Smith

May 28 (Bloomberg) -- Crude oil fell to a one-week low on concern record fuel prices will cut demand at the height of the U.S. driving season.

U.S. consumer confidence dropped to the lowest level since October 1992 yesterday. The average U.S. gasoline pump price reached an all-time high May 26, crimping demand from motorists. Oil demand typically peaks during the summer as U.S. drivers take to the road for vacations.

``The high price of fuel is now finally affecting the man in the street,'' said Robert Laughlin, senior broker at MF Global Ltd. in London. ``Global economies are creaking at present, with U.S., German and French consumer confidence data all at record lows.''

Crude oil for July delivery dropped as much as $2.35 a barrel, or 1.8 percent, to $126.50 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. That's the lowest since May 19. It traded for $126.79 at of 10:21 a.m. London time.

Yesterday, oil fell more than $3 a barrel, the biggest one- day drop since April 29, to close at $128.85. Futures reached a record $135.09 on May 22 and have doubled in the past year.

``Consumer confidence is practically in mourning, which leads one to think we'll have a price correction for oil'' Benjamin Louvet, deputy managing director of PRIM'Alternative Investment, said in a television interview.

Brent crude oil for July settlement was at $126.50 a barrel, down $1.81, on London's ICE Futures Europe exchange at 10:22 a.m. London time. It declined $4.06, or 3.1 percent, to settle yesterday at $128.31 a barrel, the biggest decline since March 31. The contract touched a record $135.14 on May 22.

U.S. Demand

Fuel usage in the U.S. averaged 20.3 million barrels a day in the four weeks ended May 16, down 1.3 percent from a year earlier, the Energy Department said last week.

The price of regular gasoline at U.S. pumps, averaged nationwide, rose 0.1 cent to an all-time high of $3.937 a gallon, AAA said yesterday on its Web site.

The Conference Board's confidence index declined more than forecast to 57.2, the lowest level since October 1992, from a revised 62.8 in April, the New York-based research group said.

Indonesia, the only OPEC member in Southeast Asia, will pull out of the organization as its oil imports exceed exports, Energy Minister Purnomo Yusgiantoro said. Indonesia will sign today a decree to exit OPEC, Purnomo said in Jakarta today.

[W. Gray]

On the way to and from Howard, it appeared that some (just some) big rigs had slowed down, perhaps trying to save on diesel.

Four wheelers, though, were as fast as ever, including SUVs. It may be that gas will have to go yet higher to convince a lot of people.

The highest we filled up at was $4.04 for 87 octane here in Centennial. The lowest was $3.79 at Severy. For some reason PJs in Howard was at $3.94 while Severy was at $3.79.  I have never seen that big a difference before. It did not look like too many people were filling up in Howard.

We went to Swinging Bridge Café at the Crooked Creek Lodge in Moline but I could not see the price the Moline station had. They apparently don't post prices.

The Swinging Bridge has really improved and enlarged. Looks like they have a seating capacity of around 60, or so. They were busy because of the alumni homecoming. Their hamburger is as good as ever.

[frawin]

Waldo, good point on the speed, I am really disappointed that Bush has not mandated a 55 MPH speed, that would lower consumption considerably. I have written to my West Texas Congressman who was also Bush's accountant when Bush was in the oil and gas business in Midland, TX, and asked him why Bush and the Republicans were so do nothing about reducing consumption, he has not replied.  Frank

[W. Gray]

In 1974, the Nixon administration suggested a recommended top speed of 50mph, which a lot of people adopted.

I set my speed control at 50 and drove from Independence, Mo to Howard with three elderly female passengers who talked nonstop all the way.

I enjoyed the drive and thought the passengers might be wiling away the time by talking.

However, all three  said they never wanted to do that again.

[frawin]

Waldo, in 1974 the 55MPH speed limit was made law and states that did not comply were cut off from Federal Highway funds. The projected savings in a 55 mph speed verses the 70 MPH speed ranges from 1 to 20-25 percent savings, at 25% we would reduce daily consumption by approximately 5.1 million barrels per day.
Frank