Impact Of Rising Gas Prices On Consumers

CHICAGO (CBS) - If you've filled up your car recently, you already know the price of gas is going up. The national average for a gallon of regular is $3.07. Here in Chicago, that same gallon costs $3.30. That's up 22 percent since a month ago. And prices are expected to keep climbing.

As CBS 2's Dorothy Tucker reports, consumers will feel this price hike in more places than just the pump.

It's now $1 surcharge for every cab ride, money cab drivers like Wakeel Jamla say they need to offset rising gas prices. Jamla says he pays an extra $7 or $8 extra per day for gas.

Taxis started charging the $1 fuel surcharge on Tuesday because gas prices in Chicago topped $3.30.

Other companies, like FedEx and UPS, tacked on the fuel surcharge with the new year. You'll now pay 5 to 10 percent more to ship packages.

And you'll pay more to fly.

"The airlines are starting to put on $10 surcharge to pay for oil," said Morningstar Economist Bob Johnson.

Johnson says other industries tacking on fuel surcharges include freight companies, trucking companies that deliver everything from food to products; which means business owners like Norm Dinkel pay more.

"The products that we're receiving: sugar, flour, eggs, chocolate chips, all those distributors have now put on a delivery surcharge because of gas prices," said Dinkel.

For Dinkel, he says those surcharges add up to nearly $200 a month. To offset the cost, he'll raise prices on his website orders, but he won't raise prices in the store. Instead, he'll make changes.

"Instead of having weekly deliveries, maybe have a monthly delivery so we don't have to spend money on that surcharge," said Dinkel.

Two other agencies that use a lot of gas, but aren't expected to add on a fuel surcharge, are Metra and the CTA. Experts say both are subsidized by tax dollars and don't make sudden changes because of the cost of fuel.