Pricy gas affecting small businesses

NORTH AMHERST, Mass. (WWLP) - Gas prices continue to cause more pain at the pumps for drivers.  Massachusetts gas prices are a quarter higher than last month and fifteen cents higher than this time last year.  And no matter how often you fill up, drivers and some business owners are digging deeper into their pockets.

“From Monday through Thursday we do a few deliveries but it's not as good as on the weekends,” said Pizza House of Amherst Manager Francisco Perez.

Perez has been in the pizza business for 20 years.  That's two decades of changing gas prices and change in demand for his product.  His busiest time is on the weekends, when he can have up to four drivers on duty.

“We don't deliver more than six miles away on small orders.  That's when the drivers don't like it because he's spending more on gas.  And sometimes they don't know whether they are going to get tips or not,” said Perez inside the North Amherst restaurant.

But delivery drivers pay for the gas they burn. 

“Well they creep up rather slowly and it's gradual enough that I haven't noticed too much. But [we’re] sort of in and out, money comes in, money comes out and sometimes you say ‘so long’ to it at the gas station,” said delivery driver James Mathews. 

In the last month, state prices have gone up a quarter.  And some analysts predict a gallon of regular could reach four dollars by spring.  Perez said he offsets the cost of gas by offering drivers a higher hourly rate.  But fuel charges are built in to food deliveries, too.

"Every company has set a $5 fuel charge just to come to you and bring the food.  During this time [winter] is when you see it a lot more,” said Perez of the practice. 

The Massachusetts average for a gallon of regular was twelve cents higher than the national average, one week ago. Those prices have since caught up and are now around $3.75.