COLUMBIA (WACH) -- With gas prices on the rollercoaster ride they’ve been on lately, many drivers are cutting back on the roadways so their budgets don’t run on fumes.
However, for super commuters forced to travel long distances to work each day, there’s not much they can do about it, and they’re paying the price.
Columbia resident David Durrette is one of the commuters in for the long haul each morning.
He spends nearly 90 minutes behind the wheel of his SUV driving to and from his job in Camden each day.
“There are some days you want to call in sick, but you just suck it up and do it,” said Durrette.
Durrette spends around $75 a week filling up. That’s nearly $4,000 a year on gas alone just to get to work.
“You just have to accept it,” said Durrette, “You still gotta go to work.”
With South Carolina’s March unemployment rate at 8.9%, Ike McLeese with the Greater Columbia Chamber of Commerce says the job market is a big reason people are willing to take jobs farther away.
“Even though gas prices are very high, I don’t think anybody is going to quit their job because of that,” said McLeese. “It’s just an additional burden.”
A new report shows how much fuel prices are emptying South Carolinians’ wallets. A Wells Fargo study shows the Palmetto State ranks second in the country for the percentage of personal income drivers spend to fill up.
South Carolina’s 6.64% of income spent on gas is second to only Mississippi’s 6.65%.
Drivers in the District of Columbia are affected the least by the cost to fill up. The report says drivers there spend only 1.07% of their incomes on gas.
The report cites some of the reasons people in South Carolina are spending more of their incomes on gas are because they make less, drive longer distances and typically have less fuel-efficient vehicles.
How are gas prices affecting you? Do you have a long commute to work each day? Let us know by posting your comments under this story.
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