Got gas in Roanoke for 3.14 a gallon on the July 4 weekend. Back in NoVA, it's mostly still over 3.60 (I haven't seen it lower), and the station at the corner of Arlington Blvd and Patrick Henry had it for 3.89. Interestingly, on the drive back on 81, the price was uniformly 3.35 or more, demonstrating that Roanoke at times can be a real anomaly. Often, the price at exit 205 is within 5 cents of Roanoke, but here is was 3.35 and 3.39. Sure would be nice to see the books of some of these operators.
I'm not blaming them -- it's the market. Obviously, there are plenty of consumers out there for whom it doesn't matter. If you can make $500 an hour or more, then so what if filling up at station X happens to cost one or two dollars more than at station Y? (and of course, with a 10 gallon tank, even a 20 cent difference only translates to two dollars).
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