Martin Morris didn’t think twice when he pulled out his wallet to gas up his Chevy Silverado.
And by all accounts that worry won’t likely return anytime soon.
The American Automobile Association has (AAA) predicted that gas prices in 2016 could be even lower on average than they were all of last year – when the average gallon of unleaded fuel fell to $2.40-a-gallon thanks to low crude oil prices and massive domestic production.
Morris, who said that he’s been driving his truck for years, couldn’t be happier that gas prices have fallen considerably since the summer and show no sign of reaching the record highs that they were at just before he bought his truck for work purposes.
“I probably bought this at the wrong time but it’s what I needed then and since then prices have fallen pretty steadily,” he said. “When it’s like this I don’t have to worry about carpooling or anything like that which is nice. I just hope that it stays this way for a while.”
According to AAA, the average price per gallon of gasoline in the United States started out this year at below $2 – the first time that they’ve dipped that low during the holiday season since 2009. California’s gas prices are substantially higher at just over $2.88 per gallon, which is more than $0.21 higher than they were at this point a year ago. Diesel prices in California have fallen more than $0.50 over the same time span. Gas prices peaked last May at nearly $4 a gallon in California while the national average hovered at $2.76 a gallon.
Blake Shaw said that he is glad to watch diesel prices dip  over the last several months.  That does wonders for his big Ford truck that costs him a fortune to fill up.
And between his truck and his wife’s family SUV, any dip in price helps the family’s budget tremendously.
“It’s not something that you think about until you’re gassing up to go work every day and your wife is taking the kids all over town in a big SUV and filling up twice a week. It gets to you,” Shaw said. “Hopefully this is something that can be maintained for a while. I know gas gets more expensive during the summer, but right now – especially after Christmas – it’s a nice little gift.”