Photo: Dan Videtich Brad McKinzie, operations manager for Lucky Cab and Delivery of Rock Island, has concerns about how the rising cost of gasoline will affect his company.

For the typical consumer, gasoline prices have a big impact on weekly budgets, travel and the popularity of certain types of vehicles.

For businesses, high fuel prices gouge even deeper. They can result in layoffs, and higher prices for goods and services usually get passed on to the consumer.

``Obviously, when you have rigs running down the road eating fuel, it has a lot of impact,'' said Dohrn Transfer Co. traffic manager John Ewert.

Dohrn Transfer, of Rock Island, has to recoup those costs somewhere, Mr. Ewert said. Those increased costs at the pump are passed on through a fuel surcharge to the customer.

``You've got to recoup those fuel costs somewhere,'' Mr. Ewert said. ``It's like a snowball going downhill.''

Ted Woodruff, professor of economics at St. Ambrose University, Davenport, said that, although the price of gasoline has an impact on the business world, its reach is not as far as it would have been 30 years ago.

``Oil in general is not as important relative to the economy as it used to be,'' Mr. Woodruff said. ``While higher oil prices have some negative effect on the economy, it is not like it was in the 1970s. Our economy is a lot more service-oriented.

``But, because manufacturing represents a smaller fraction of our output, oil becomes less important to our economy.''

He said gasoline prices certainly are higher than they were 30 years ago, but actually are cheaper relative to the overall consumer price index.

``Look at tuition and medical care,'' Mr. Woodruff said. ``Those prices have skyrocketed. If you compare the U.S. to other countries like Canada and Europe, we have really low gasoline prices.''

Joe Jewhurst, district coach for Happy Joe's Pizza and Ice Cream Parlors in Rock Island and East Moline, said the store's costs have increased as a direct result of the gas prices.

Mr. Jewhurst said the delivery price went from $1 to $1.50 in recent years because of the costs of gasoline. Happy Joe's has its own trucks and the cost of gasoline is absorbed directly by the business.

``We don't want to pass on any more increases to our customers,'' Mr. Jewhurst said.

Brad McKinzie, operations manager for Lucky Cab and Delivery, Rock Island, said the gas prices are hurting business.

``We're trying to hold the line,'' Mr. McKinzie said. ``I even tell my drivers what stations to take a look at for cheaper prices.

``The drivers get paid a percentage of what they book, but, yeah, we pay for the gas.''

Lucky has four cabs running during the week and seven cabs on Friday and Saturday. Mr. McKinzie said if gas prices go up to $2 a gallon, as some oil industry experts predict, the cost will have to be passed on to the customer.

``Somehow, we've got to keep the bottom line,'' Mr. McKinzie said, adding that his cab drivers go about 150 miles a day. ``We hate to raise the rates, because every time you do, you get a lot of flak.

``We try to hold the line as much as we can.''

David Sykuta, executive director of the Illinois Petroleum Council in Springfield, said gas prices are high in large part because of uncertainty in the world today.

``We're (consumers) paying a penalty based on fear and anxiety, no doubt about it,'' Mr. Sykuta said. ``There's a direct link between energy usage and economic growth. But even in times, economically, where we're down a little bit, gasoline usage is up 3 percent (nationwide).

``We still need more oil and natural gas.''

Mike Right, spokesman for AAA Illinois, said the current average price in the Illinois Quad-Cities is $1.67 for regular gasoline compared to $1.13 a year ago at this time.

The highest average price in the Illinois Quad-Cities was $1.91, which was in May 2001.

Staff writer Stephen Elliott can be reached at 786-6441, ext. 247, or by e-mail at selliott@qconline.com.

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