Fuel cost hard on commuters

The Rising Cost of Gas:  A Daily Press Special Report

MONTROSE  — Rising gas prices have put everyone in a crunch.

But those who have found work in the outlining areas, such as Telluride and Delta, filling up at the gas pump becomes a daily occurrence, and trying to figure out how to supplement the cost has become even more challenging.

“Some of us actually have to do the work and transport the goods and service,” said Mo Haga, a Montrose building contractor. “Not all of us can drive a Toyota Prius.”

Haga is a commuter, driving to Telluride up to seven days a week to work. In his diesel truck, he hauls everything he needs for the job.

Out of 13,356 Montrose County residents who held a job in 2004, 34.4 percent traveled outside the county to work, according to the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment most recent report.

Kathy Sramek lives about a mile north of Colona and has worked at Delta County Memorial Hospital for 24 years. For the first 14 years, her schedule allowed her to carpool. However, when she became the hospital’s education director, her flexible schedule made carpooling difficult. Now she finds herself driving her car the approximate 35 miles daily.

Many commuters, like Haga and Sramek, find themselves in a difficult and costly position. And some are changing their ways.

“People with the big gas guzzlers, like me, are driving a little slower,” Haga said.

Gas mileage usually decreases rapidly at speeds above 60 miles per hour, according to fueleconomy.gov. For every five miles over 60 miles per hour, a driver is paying about 20 cents more per gallon for gas.

Three Montrose residents have cut their fuel costs by a third by carpooling. About six months ago, Delta hospital radiologists Steve Bernstein, Jeff Richmond and Bodie Blowers decided carpooling was the way to go.

Blowers said he travels about 275 miles a week just to work — he was filling up every week, spending an average of $80 each trip to the pump. The monthly $320 in gas was making a dent in his salary.

“I’m saving a lot of money no doubt,” he said about carpooling.

Some employers are helping out as well. Beginning in July, the Delta hospital is adding 50 cents per hour to their employees’ paychecks to supplement them for fuel, Sramek said.

For Haga, the extra cost has to be carried down to his clients through a fuel surcharge.

Though most of his clients are upper class Telluride residents, he said he does do jobs for the average Joe. The extra charge is hardest for working class people.

And though the surcharge contributes, it doesn’t cover rising prices in other areas.

“The little extra for gas helps, but it doesn’t cover all the other stuff that is going up huge — it’s tough, it’s really hard to make it,” he said. Like many drivers, he’s waiting a little longer before performing regular maintenance.

For Marcus Dean, president of Downey Excavation in Montrose, traveling is expensive, but the cost of diesel to run his equipment is even higher.

Because of a slowing Montrose economy, Downey Excavation has had to look for jobs even farther away, recently traveling 170 miles to Rangely, Dean said. All his workers travel in vans to save on fuel and stay in a hotel, only traveling home for the weekends.

“That is the biggest adjustment we can make,” he said. “The equipment has to burn fuel. The only thing you can do is adjust and basically pass the increase down the line.”

For many workers, there’s not much they can do but make little adjustments.

Local municipalities consisting of Montrose, San Miguel, Delta and Ouray counties are in the process of hiring a consultant to conduct a Regional Transit Service Needs and Feasibility Study.

The project will look at various components of a regional public transportation service, according to Montrose County’s Request for Proposal.

The study is expected to be completed by Dec. 31. However, funds would still need to be acquired and a program implemented, if the study finds it feasible.

Until then, commuters will have to keep cringing at the pumps and continue to find ways to shave their fuel use.

Contact Kati O’Hare via e-mail at katio@montrosepress.com