Baileyton Gas As Low As $1.97; Greeneville Price As Low As $2.11

By NELSON MORAIS

Staff Writer

BAILEYTON --- For the first time in a long time, gasoline can be purchased in some locations in Greene County for less than $2 a gallon.

"We're just trying to be competitive," said Jason Brandon on Friday morning, referring to his regular-unleaded gasoline price of $1.97.9 a gallon at the TA (Truckstops of America) Service Center truck stop in this northern Greene County community just off Interstate 81.

Brandon is co-owner of the truckstop with his brother, Richard Brandon. The business is located on Baileyton Road.

The Greeneville Sun was unsuccessful in getting public comments from the staff of two other gasoline stations in Baileyton that had regular unleaded gas selling at $1.99.9 a gallon.

An employee at the Knoxville corporate office of a fourth Baileyton station, which also had a $1.99.9-per-gallon price, said employees in the corporate office were told they were "not supposed to talk about pricing" to reporters who called them.

A little more than 12 miles south of Baileyton, on the 11E Bypass in Greeneville, gasoline prices were at or near $2.21.9 per gallon for regular unleaded at most service stations, including a Shell, an Exxon Mobil, and three BP gas stations spotchecked by a Greeneville Sun reporter.

Later, on Friday afternoon, regular gasoline was selling for $2.15.9 a gallon at the non-branded Food City (Gas-N-Go) station on Tennessee Rt. 70 (the Asheville Highway).

TA Center's Business Model

Brandon spoke at length to a reporter Friday morning about the gasoline situation and gasoline marketing in particular.

By being very competitive with prices, Brandon said, his truck stop was seeking a high volume of gasoline sales.

He said he had an advantage over the other stations because, for him, the sale of diesel fuel -- not gasoline -- was the main income-producer for his business. "That's a majority of our business," Brandon said, referring to the diesel-fuel sales.

His large truck stop at Exit 36 off Interstate 81 also has a large variety shop and a restaurant, the Country Pride Restaurant, which bring in revenue.

Brandon said "brand" gas stations -- such as BP, Shell, Exxon Mobil, Phillips 66, etc. -- generally have to pay more than he does for the gasoline they buy from oil companies.

Two-Day Inventory

He was understandably somewhat cautious in giving too many details about his gasoline business, but stated that he purchases gasoline from two oil companies in Knoxville.

Brandon explained that he keeps a gasoline inventory of only two days: a practice which he said has allowed him to respond more quickly than many others can to the steady drop in oil prices in recent months, passing savings along to customers.

"We [gasoline stations] all get scrutinized" by the public, Brandon said. In fact, he said, the local stations get the same scrutiny as the "(oil) industry as a whole."

He said he sympathized with customers, most of whom probably don't understand the complexity of running a gasoline station and establishing prices.

"It's frustrating at times (for consumers), I understand, because it (gasoline) is a product everyone has to have," he said.

Has More Flexibility

"All gas stations lost money the first six months of this year as prices rose -- and as our margin was cut," he stated.

He explained that, for example, as wholesale prices rose, gas station-owners would frequently pay distributors higher prices for their gasoline but would be unable or unwilling to pass those higher prices on to the public immediately, out of concern for their customers -- thus cutting into their profit margins.

"You can't raise the price right away" when gas is purchased at a higher price, "and so you eat the cost," Brandon said.

But since selling gasoline is not the TA Service Center's "core business," he said, when wholesale gasoline prices drop, his truckstop is able to have more flexibility than many others in lowering its retail gas price -- even though doing so cuts into his sales revenue.

Lower Price Expected

He said he expects the cost of gasoline to go down even further than it has already.

"It's just cyclical," said Brandon of gas prices, noting, "We've come down considerably in gasoline (prices) in the last month."

Brandon said his station, and others, were selling gasoline at more than $4 a gallon this summer, with diesel fuel peaking at $4.95.9 a gallon. On Friday, his diesel price was $2.93.9 a gallon.

But he said unforeseen circumstances, such as an attack on an oil-producing country or some other kind of disruption in oil supplies, could push prices higher very quickly. The gas-price situation is ghrd to predict, he added.