Cheap Gas prices

[T@T]

Originally Posted by heep223

- Public transit <---- because unions
- Garbage and recycling collection<---- because unions
- Taxi fares<---- because unions
- Canada Post and all shipping companies <---- because unions
- Trucking companies and CP rail <---- because unions
- Airline and any travel agency <---- because unions

I saw an article in Mcleans a couple of years ago that showed the rich are getting richer because of the "lack" of unions or at least the strength of unions.

Trucking for example has been taken over by "new Canadians" and there isn't any unions at all because of the under cutting, same with Garbage collection and construction trucking.

I guess since I love to travel I may want the airline industry to follow suit, then again if unskilled people fly aircraft like they drive trucks ...no thanks.

Hey,I get it that unions were a problem in many ways but they also made sure workers were trained and they also made sure fair wages were paid and work wasn't farmed out to scab labor in china..etc.

[Northendzone]

given that the price of public transit is set by the city well in advance of the new year, i would ahve to think tha tthe price of gas would have to stay in this range for quite some time before they considered lowering fares.

also it is my understanding that public transit generally runs at a loss, so the price drop would presumably soften the blow.

I hope that the price of rail shipping drops as it might prompt me to do some online shoppingat a etailer that offers rail shipping as an option.

[Tyler]

You also have to remember that the city buys millions of litres of fuel a year and hedges

[Coach]

.71 today at the Co-op by my place.

[FlamesAddiction]

The lowest I have seen in the GTA is 89 cents/litre.

[bizaro86]

Didn't the city roll back the transit price hike this year?

[Hack&Lube]

I paid $0.72/L for Diesel yesterday. I remember paying double that in B.C. two summers ago!

[Lubicon]

Originally Posted by Hack&Lube

I paid $0.72/L for Diesel yesterday. I remember paying double that in B.C. two summers ago!

$0.749 this morning for diesel in YYC. Paid $1.15 on the weekend in BC, that is ~50% higher!!!! I also remember paying $1.40 ish a few summers ago in B.C.

[AFireInside]

Originally Posted by heep223

- Public transit <---- because unions
- Garbage and recycling collection<---- because unions
- Taxi fares<---- because unions
- Canada Post and all shipping companies <---- because unions
- Trucking companies and CP rail <---- because unions
- Airline and any travel agency <---- because unions

Unions don't explain the fact that when fuel costs increase, costs of these services immediately increase and when they decrease the costs don't. Unions are good and bad but they aren't to blame.

The costs don't decrease because of greed.

God forbid a group tries to keep some of these large corporations I'm check, because we all know big organizations care about workers first and profits second.

[FlamesAddiction]

Originally Posted by AFireInside

Unions don't explain the fact that when fuel costs increase, costs of these services immediately increase and when they decrease the costs don't. Unions are good and bad but they aren't to blame.

The costs don't decrease because of greed.

God forbid a group tries to keep some of these large corporations I'm check, because we all know big organizations care about workers first and profits second.

Or why airlines added additional fuel surcharges to their prices when fuel prices skyrocketed. I would bet that they aren't about to reduce that now that fuel is cheaper.

Those things only go in one direction.

[heep223]

Originally Posted by AFireInside

Unions don't explain the fact that when fuel costs increase, costs of these services immediately increase and when they decrease the costs don't. Unions are good and bad but they aren't to blame.

The costs don't decrease because of greed.

God forbid a group tries to keep some of these large corporations I'm check, because we all know big organizations care about workers first and profits second.

I was just kidding. Kind of. My tongue in cheek point is that when times are good, unions demand more concessions. And when times are bad, unions demand more concessions. The union has great intentions but it doesn't exactly give companies flexibility, for example, to lower prices in response to market conditions. It ends up hurting both the consumer and the company, which in turn hurts employees anyways.

It's not a great example because fuel prices are a very complex market and thus the tongue in cheek.

Plus, I have to live up to my avatar as a few have pointed out. I am CP's token union buster.

[Northendzone]

aren't the lower fuel price's Rachel Notley's fault?

[fundmark19]

Originally Posted by Northendzone

aren't the lower fuel price's Rachel Notley's fault?

I thought it was Obama

[InglewoodFan]

They're making it back on the backs of the 1%. Shell by my work has a $0.20 gap to Premium instead of the usual $0.10. Cheeky buggers. Grabbed the minimum and fill the rest at Costco

[Harry Lime]

Originally Posted by T@T

Trucking for example has been taken over by "new Canadians" and there isn't any unions at all because of the under cutting, same with Garbage collection and construction trucking.

Very interesting subject, what has been going on in the trucking industry over the last 20 or so years. Had a long conversation a while back with a couple of transportation managers. It's an absolute political quagmire of capitalist endeavor, religious institution, indentured workers, inside of one of the biggest employers (by profession) in Canada. Eventually someone will win whatever Canada's version of a Pulitzer is, for tackling that one.

[DownhillGoat]

Originally Posted by InglewoodFan

They're making it back on the backs of the 1%. Shell by my work has a $0.20 gap to Premium instead of the usual $0.10. Cheeky buggers. Grabbed the minimum and fill the rest at Costco

The spread between bronze and gold has been growing for some time. IIRC it was about 14-15 cents over the summer.

Haha wait, and what? The 1%? Having a car with a turbo or a motor bike is what puts one in the 1% now?

[heep223]

Originally Posted by kunkstyle

The spread between bronze and gold has been growing for some time. IIRC it was about 14-15 cents over the summer.

Haha wait, and what? The 1%? Having a car with a turbo or a motor bike is what puts one in the 1% now?

Yeah I was going to say, I have a $10,000 vehicle that takes premium

[Slava]

Maybe someone could chime in who knows, but is there a significant difference between the gas at say Costco and somewhere like Esso? I mean in terms of the additives or lack thereof. Is guess what I am asking is whether you get something for those extra cents per litre or not.

[gallione11]

Originally Posted by Slava

Maybe someone could chime in who knows, but is there a significant difference between the gas at say Costco and somewhere like Esso? I mean in terms of the additives or lack thereof. Is guess what I am asking is whether you get something for those extra cents per litre or not.

No inside knowledge but a mechanic told me once that there's less cleaning additives in the cheaper gases so they can cause buildup inside your engine. Whether he was right or not, I'm not sure.

Just to be safe, and since here we have gas rewards for both Fred Meyer/Kroger and Chevron, I alternate where I fill-up each time.

I will say it was really nice filling up for $17 last week. Been a loooong time since I paid that little.

[polak]

Originally Posted by Slava

Maybe someone could chime in who knows, but is there a significant difference between the gas at say Costco and somewhere like Esso? I mean in terms of the additives or lack thereof. Is guess what I am asking is whether you get something for those extra cents per litre or not.

If you're buying regular gas? Zero.

There is a 1 in 3 chance that Costco has Esso gas in it's tanks. All of the gas in Calgary is either Shell, Suncor or Esso as those are the only 3 terminals in Calgary. I'm not completely sure as I don't work in operations but I don't see why it couldn't even be a blend of those 3. In fact that makes the most sense as wholesalers like Costco tend to buy whatever is the cheapest that day. Samething with "unbranded" premium (i.e. premium that you'd buy at any old gas station).

Once you get into premium branded gas, that's when you see the difference. V-Power, ultra premium and all that.

P.S. I'm not sure about Husky. They might have a terminal here too but if they do then my company doesn't have access to it and they don't publicly post their prices so it's probably for husky stations only. Only place I've heard of husky gas being offered is Prince George where their refinery is.