Valley Food Truck Owners Welcome Relief as Gas Prices Decline

Valley food truck owners gas price relief, Digi Mart USA News (Visalia-Tulare area, California): According to GasBuddy, gas prices have trickled down nationwide, including at Quick Fill in Tulare, which boasted the cheapest gas in the Visalia-Tulare area at $4.69 per gallon for regular.

The price drop has brought some relief to small businesses on wheels, including Tacos San Marcos, which serves customers in the South Valley. “Our sales always do go up a little bit when gas prices go down,” said Carina Gomez, CEO of Tacos San Marcos.

The gradual relief follows several months of high gas and diesel prices. According to GasBuddy, the national average dropped below $4 per gallon for the first time since early August.

In Fresno, gas prices fell 11 cents per gallon in the last week, averaging $5.54 a gallon, and the trend extended to neighboring Visalia and Tulare.

Despite the price drop, Gomez said her business has seen this before and is not unfamiliar with such conditions after surviving a global pandemic. However, she said her business is still trying to recover from the surge in gas prices earlier this year.

Last month, GasBuddy reported that the highest average price for a gallon of regular in Visalia reached $6.36. The increase forced Gomez to adjust her menu pricing.

“We did increase our pricing at the beginning of this year because of the price increase in gas. Vegetables and meat, everything is expensive, because everything needs transportation to get to us,” said Gomez.

Currently, Gomez said it costs about $30 to run a single generator per food truck, which lasts about 8 to 9 hours. “You just multiply that by 6.

If all the food trucks are working on the same day, it just gets expensive,” said the Visalia entrepreneur.

Tulare native Celeste Ontiveros, who now lives in Southern California, said that when gas was at its highest, it cost her $75 to fill her Chevy Malibu. “Now that I’m seeing that the gas prices, you know, you can make it down here a little bit better and easier,” said Ontiveros.

According to GasBuddy, the drop in gas and diesel prices is part of a seasonal shift as demand fades with cooler weather.