Q Gasoline at the Emporia rest stop on the Kansas Turnpike was $3.12 a gallon last week, when stations in-town were charging around $3.29 per gallon. By Monday, the KTA gas was $3.05 a gallon. How can the turnpike station sell gas for so much less?
A Mark-up at stations on the turnpike is regulated by contracts that are let approximately every five years.
John Glaser, controller for the Kansas Turnpike Authority in Wichita, said that stations along the route are allowed to add a pre-set maximum amount to the wholesale cost of the gasoline.
The allowable add-on is expected to cover station expenses and mark-up.
“It’s 13 cents and it’s tied to the average (wholesale) price out of Kansas City,” Glaser said. “And of course, they’re allowed to charge less than the maximum.”
The maximum price in the north portion of the state follows Kansas City’s average wholesale prices; the southern portion follows Wichita’s average wholesale prices.
If the average wholesale price in Kansas City is $2.70 cents per gallon, the Emporia station would be allowed to price its gas at a maximum of $2.83 per gallon.
Stations are allowed to re-set their prices twice each week.
“If the market’s a fast-moving market, it could be the price is set on a Friday and the market goes up,” he said. “They’re kind of stuck with it until next Tuesday. ... Sometimes it causes prices to be out of line for a few days.”
Glaser said that gasoline in the city of Wichita was selling at $2.97 per gallon, after earlier reaching a high of $3.29 per gallon.
“It just came down right before the weekend,” he said.
vankamp (anonymous) says...
The same day it was $3.29 in Emporia, $3.12 on the turnpike, it was $3.10 all over the city of Eldorado.
June 6, 2007 at 3:41 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )