Once it reaches $4.00/gal., it might as well be $20.00/gal.

Retail gas hits record $3.50 a gallon as oil marches higher

NEW YORK - Rising gasoline prices tightened the squeeze on drivers Monday, jumping for the first time to an average $3.50 a gallon at filling stations across the country with no sign of relief.

Crude oil set a record for the sixth day in a row - this time closing above $117 a barrel - after an attack on a Japanese oil tanker in the Middle East rattled investors.

“It’s killing us,” said Jean Beuns, a New York cab driver who estimated he now makes $125 to $150 less per month than in the fall because of costlier gas. “And it was so quick. Every day you see the price go up 5, 6, 10 cents more.”

As bad as that is, it’s this part that worries me the most:

Diesel prices at the pump also struck a record high of $4.20 a gallon, according to AAA and the Oil Price Information Service. That’s sure to add to truckers’ costs and drive up the price of food, clothing and other goods shipped by truck.

“You and I are going to pay more,” said Bob Costello, chief economist of American Trucking Associations. “Exactly how much … I can’t tell you, but it’s got to show up.”