AREA BUSINESS HURT BY HIGH GAS PRICES
Wednesday, August 24th, 2005 -- 9:35 AM
With gas prices hovering around $2.70 per gallon in our area, a local business is feeling the pinch.Abby Vans Inc. of Neillsville provides non-emergency specialized transportation to elderly and disabled individuals in 26 counties around the state; they also operate the Neillsville Taxi Service.
They use about 15,000 gallons of gasoline a month and the price of gas is having a big impact on their bottom-line.
"We're about 50-cents a gallon what we estimated starting the year," says Mark Jones, owner of Abby Vans, Inc. "That would amount to about $7,500 a month."
Abby Vans? service is largely contracted; therefore, it?s difficult to adjust for mid-year gas price spikes.
"It means renegotiating the contract and that's very difficult to do. All the counties are usuall on an annual basis and opening those contracts up can cause a lot of difficulty at the local level."
Jones says their contract for the Neillsville Taxi Service is up for renegotiation. Currently, the in-city fare is $1.50 for children, seniors and the disabled and $2.75 per adult; there?s a dollar per mile charge for trips outside the city limits. Jones said the gas prices would likely affect the out-of-city fare.
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