All round the world, people are being forced to face the rising gas prices produced by the unique set of misfortunate circumstances we have found ourselves in. However, in the entirety of the United States, New York has been hit by this problem the hardest. Why? Well, the state’s unique situation has always made it a somewhat financially precarious place, but this problem has only been magnified and then pushed into the spotlight as of late. To understand the reason for this, and to explain the various ways in which gas prices have impacted the lives of citizens of New York, we will be answering a simple question: How are New Yorkers dealing with record-breaking gas prices?

A self-service gas station

Transit to work

You do not need to try very hard to learn about the global logistics situation to find out that surging gas prices have made transit to work a lot more complicated than it used to be. And this, unfortunately, goes double for New York. Prices in New York in general have always been aggravatingly high, even when a justification was offered in the form of a ‘higher living standards’ argument. Of course, for any New Yorkers, this was something to scoff at even before everything that has happened. Now, those with lower wages are being forced to evaluate whether the expense of traveling to and from work makes hanging onto the job profitable at all. This applies to both public and private transport. This means that we can expect New Yorkers to be dealing with record-breaking gas prices by straddling bicycles as their choice of transportation if something doesn’t change.

Filling up a car tank
Working from home might get even more popular as a way to avoid purchasing gas.

The rising costs of services

A serious consequence of the gas prices surging is also the increase in the cost of various services. Here, we are primarily talking about the shipping, logistics and moving industries. If you are planning to move, you better be preparing a moving spending plan to keep costs under control, because otherwise you will receive a nasty surprise at the quote you will be offered! This, of course, applies to the other fields as well. Before you go complaining to the businesses in question, however, consider this: They do not really have a choice if they want to keep their operations profitable. The gas prices make it so that they are practically operating at a loss unless they are transporting a lot of items and charging their customers at a premium. New Yorkers again have it rougher than everyone else, considering the original prices of these companies in New York.

The impact on the cost of goods

Which brings us to the next aspect of what dealing with record-breaking gas prices entails: Rising costs of goods! This next link in the chain of New Yorkers’ misery is a direct consequence of the other two. The gas prices make companies increase their prices, which makes those who rely on them for moving goods suddenly face a drop in profits as well. There are of course ways to cut down on the expenses. It would be possible to disregard the importance of transport insurance for instance. However, would any business owner really do something like that? Let us just say that is unlikely. And who gets to suffer from the fallout of this? Why, the consumers, of course. All of a sudden, just securing the daily necessities in the form of bare minimum sustenance and hygiene products is a lot more expensive than it used to be.

Larger fleets, and therefore businesses, do better and get to dictate prices.
Larger fleets, and therefore businesses, do better and get to dictate prices.

Stalling economy

And yet, this is not the full extent of the drawbacks of dealing with record-breaking gas prices! In a rather ironic twist, the companies that are raising prices rely directly on their customers to survive. If no one wants their products or services, then they are unable to turn a profit. All the goods or gas purchased to be able to operate their business become worthless. This situation forms a downward spiral: to afford operation costs, companies raise prices, making it impossible for customers to afford to pay them, and cutting off their own source of income. Shops are note the only ones dealing with this. As the logistics experts from Roadway Moving point out, this is exactly what is happening to moving and shipping companies as well. Which, in turn, puts the smaller and less prepared ones out of business. Thereby leaving New Yorkers to wrangle with giant corporations.

Declining standard of living

Naturally, the final sad link in the chain of dealing with record-breaking gas prices in New York once again comes back to haunt regular citizens. The cost of living in the state of New York has always been hovering around an index of 150, with New York City itself breaking into 180. This, alone, should sufficiently portray the difficulties New Yorkers face just trying to maintain a respectable living standard. And now that they are dealing with further increases in prices of everything, the city is slipping into dangerous waters. Especially considering the fact that the supply chain pressures are still mounting. Which implies that the current problems are here to stay for the foreseeable future. One thing is certain: most New Yorkers will need to be extremely frugal to make it through the coming period as unaffected as they can.

Future Concerns

So, how are New Yorkers dealing with record-breaking gas prices? In one word: badly. Only briefly supplanted by tourist-focused Hawaii for the most expensive state to live in the whole United States, New York is growing even more hostile a place to its inhabitants. And with things unlikely to improve in the foreseeable future, a lot of New Yorkers are facing a very hard decision: Stay where you are and endure, or try and move to another state. Unfortunately, even this option is likely out of reach for those who are working for low wages, since the cost of moving now would present an unreasonable drain on their budgets. All of which is painting a rather dreary picture of New Yorkers’ future.

Author Bio:

Caleb Franco
Caleb Franco is an experienced accountant and logistics company representative with a front row seat to the recent upheavals in the industry. He shares his insights and opinions through blog posts he enjoys writing in his free time.