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In honor of the upcoming July Fourth holiday, one chain of gas stations has decided it wants to give its customers a little freedom from financial stress at the pump due to the record-high prices we’re all seeing.
Sheetz, which operates more than 640 locations in the United States, across the mid-Atlantic and Midwest regions, announced on June 27 that it had lowered the price of gas to $3.99 a gallon for unleaded fuel at its locations through July 4. Drivers who are able to use E85 fuel, which contains a higher concentration of ethanol and is designed for eco-friendly flexible fuel vehicles, will save even more with a price of $3.49 per gallon during the promotion.
While some individually owned gas stations have made similar moves to lower prices for their customers during the recent hike, Sheetz’s company-wide markdown seems to be the first large-scale effort to help ease consumers’ economic strain.
Finding a Sheetz gas station near you, whether you’re staying close to home or hitting the road soon, is as easy as going to the company’s official station location search and entering an address, state, or ZIP Code. From there, you can plan your gas stops to align with a Sheetz location to save a little money.
Gas Prices Not Stopping July 4 Travel
As of June 27, AAA reports the national average price for a gallon of unleaded gas is $4.89.
“Today’s national average of $4.89 is nine cents less than a week ago, 30 cents more than a month ago, and $1.80 more than a year ago,” AAA said in its weekly report released on June 27.
Yet, even with gas prices still taking a big bite out of people’s budgets, AAA predicted a record number of travelers hitting the road for the July 4 holiday weekend: nearly 48 million people will travel at least 50 miles from home between June 30 and July 4, with 42 million of those travelers heading out on vacation via car. Overall, AAA said these numbers are a 3.7% increase from 2021’s statistics and almost back to the levels seen in 2019 before the COVID-19 pandemic hit.
“The volume of travelers we expect to see over Independence Day is a definite sign that summer travel is kicking into high gear,” said Paula Twidale, senior vice president, AAA Travel in a June 21 statement. “Earlier this year, we started seeing the demand for travel increase and it’s not tapering off. People are ready for a break and despite things costing more, they are finding ways to still take that much-needed vacation.”
Are you traveling this holiday weekend despite the gas prices? Let us know!
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