PAIN AT THE PUMP: COMMUTERS WORK MORE TO PAY FOR GAS

By Doug Thompson/Arkansas News Bureau

FAYETTEVILLE -- People drive as far as 70 miles to their job at the Georgia Pacific mill in Crossett, which has some of the best wages in the Southeast Arkansas' corner, said state Rep. Johnnie Bolin, D-Crossett.

Whether they can continue to afford that trip at today's high gasoline prices appears doubtful, said legislator, who retired from that same plant after 38 years there. "That was the talk in the coffee shop this morning, about people moving into Crossett so they can afford the trip to work," he said in an interview Wednesday.

Arkansas ranked 50th in per-capita income but ranks 32nd in gasoline use, according to U.S. Department of Energy figures. Arkansans used 34.1 million barrels of gasoline in 2002, according to the latest agency figures. That's about 13 barrels, or more than 500 gallons, per person in the state in one year.

Driving to work is a big part of that, and a part that is hardest to change, spokesmen for business and workers said in interviews. Arkansas is a rural state. The jobs are in cities, but homes are in the countryside and smaller towns, they said.

Workers who spend more money on gasoline have less money to spend on anything else. That impact was noted by Arkansas companies from Wal-Mart, the world's largest retailer, which reported that impact in its last quarterly report, to convenience stores that recently announced closings in southeastern Arkansas, leaving no gas stations within 20 miles of some towns.

Building trades -- plumbers, electricians, pipefitters and others -- are among the hardest hit workers, said Alan Hughes, president of the Arkansas AFL-CIO.

"They have to drive to the job site, wherever it is," Hughes said Wednesday. "They're traveling around, stuck in the wages they agreed to when the bids went out. They signed contracts before the last big increase in gas prices. They can't walk in and say, 'Hey, I need another $10 a week because of these gas prices.' They're having to drive 70 miles one way to work because that's where the job's at."

Skilled workers haul their specialized tools, equipment and materials to the job, Hughes said. "Motorcycles and bicycles aren't options," he said. "You can't just go buy yourself a hybrid and fix this problem.

"If you go the construction site with your tools and trailers, and the site's in Little Rock and you live in Pine Bluff, that's 90 miles every day in a 16 mile-per-gallon truck," Hughes said. "You can't lose your job, and you can't afford to keep this up. You can't afford to go home to your family at night, and you can't afford a hotel. You're damned if you do and damned if you don't."

Other hard hit businesses are poultry and logging, said Bolin and Morril Harriman, executive vice president of the Poultry Federation.

"I was talking to a logger yesterday, one of the better operators, who told me it was costing $350 more a day to get his trucks going than it did last year," Bolin said. "He didn't know how he was going to continue doing it. Many won't. We're going to have people going out of business and equipment for sale soon. Those without a nest egg will be the first ones to go. If this crisis continues, it's going to catch up with them all, no matter how good they are." Of that $350 a day increase, $240 of it was in the last three weeks, Bolin said.

Also, wood product plants all over Arkansas are trying to hold down their fuel costs by having loggers haul their loads to fewer locations closer to the mill or plant, Bolin said. "Instead of being able to deliver four or five loads a day as a logger, you might only get to deliver three loads," Bolin said.

"People say, just turn to railroads. Well, we have," he said. Rail traffic has gone steadily up and the benefits of using more rail have been used up, too.

"What we need is an energy policy that also looks at getting the most out of inland waterways, trucks, rail air and water," Bolin said. "We've got to maximize our efforts on all that."

In poultry, everything that has to do with the product has to be transported, Harriman said. Grain for feed is moved by rail from the Midwest. The grain and chickens from hatcheries are distributed over the countryside to growers by trucks. The chickens are brought in to the processing plants by trucks. Finally, the product is shipped worldwide and the litter left at farms is taken away in trucks.

Poultry doesn't have any option of passing along costs to consumers in the very competitive food market, Harriman said. "The marketplace sets the price of our product," he said.

Another business being badly hurt is the one selling the gasoline at the retail level, said Ann Hines of the Arkansas Oil Marketers Association, which represents gas stations and convenience stores, among other businesses.

Most stores that sell gasoline try to break even on fuel sales and make their money on sales of other items, such as beverages and snack foods, said Hines. That's especially true when prices are high, because customers are more sensitive to cost and will drive to whichever station has the cheapest gasoline, she said.

People don't have much money left over for snacks when 10 gallons of gas costs $25 or so, she said.

Those who think gas stations are raking in profits should take note that Git-N-Go, a convenience store chain, closed 13 stations in four southeastern Arkansas towns earlier this month, Hines said. "There isn't a gas station within 20 miles of some of those towns any more," she said, referring to Altheimer, Grady, Humnoke and Wabbaseka.

"Think about that: You have to drive 20 miles if you need gas for your lawnmower," Hines said.

"I don't have very many happy campers in my industry," she said.