Bill wrote:
In the past, I would always use my pick-up truck for anything and
everything construction related. Even for going to the store and buying say
a 5 gallon can of something.

Yesterday I needed to go to the store and buy a bunch of construction
stuff....

I thought about it... I would not be buying anything long... hummm, maybe I
could fit it all in my 38 MPG hatchback car?

And I'll be darned if everything fit. Just barely made it, but I crammed it
all in there. So then I filled up with gas on way back (tank half full)...
$9.00, not bad!

I think I'll use the car whenever possible from now on....



I drive a large pickup truck because I am a general contractor
and I may need to haul, tow, etc. on a daily basis. Due to
the gas prices, I have often been riding my motorcycle to
work, only to discover that I need to move some tools to
another jobsite. I then drive all the way home to get my
truck and return to the jobsite (which may be 2-30 miles from
home.

I have found one silver lining in this gas price surge. 35
years ago, cowboys, ranchers and construction workers drove
trucks. They were fairly reasonable back then. No frills,
but you could get a good truck without taking out a second
mortgage on the house. Since everyone and their mother wants
trucks and SUVs now, the price of those vehicles have
skyrocketed. Typical construction workers can barely afford
to buy what they NEED to do their job.

Now that gas prices are shooting up, the demand will go down
and perhaps those of us who NEED those types of vehicles will
be able to afford them. I am constantly looking at trucks and
the first sign that demand was going down was the Chevy
employee discount on trucks. I am hoping that that trend
continues and that prices get back to reasonable levels.

--
Robert Allison
Rimshot, Inc.
Georgetown, TX