POLK COUNTY, Fla. (WFLA) – With every crank of the leaf blower, Rodney Brown sees dollar signs.
“It’s been rough. I’m trying to get adjusted to it,” he said.
Brown owns Blue Ribbon Lawns and Blue Ribbon Trees in Polk County. He said his lawn care equipment and his truck use 200 gallons of fuel each week.
Four of his six vehicles require diesel fuel.
“I went from $600 to $700 to almost double that within one week so it’s been a tough road to try to get adjusted to it and the speed they’re wanting you to pay it,” he said.
When the war in Ukraine made gas prices soar, especially diesel, Brown had to make some tough decisions.
“Never have I seen it go so high so quickly. It’s an adjustment out of 12 years of doing my business, it’s a real stress on the business,” said Brown.
He said he had to raise prices for some of his customers and start charging for services, including the removal of debris from a deep freeze, which used to be included in his fee.
“Some people have been understanding and went up on me to help me out. A few have picked another company to go with due to wanting more money for the fuel prices,” he said.
Brown is hopeful gas prices are starting to go back down.
“Last week we saw some pretty steep drops in the price of oil and that’s allowing the price of gasoline to drop as well,” said AAA spokesperson Mark Jenkins.
AAA reports Florida’s average price for regular gas is $4.14 a gallon. That is 10 cents lower than the national average. It marks a nearly 20-cent drop in the past week.
“We could anticipate another $.25 drop here in the future but that all really depends on where oil prices go,” said Jenkins.
Brown hopes the forecasts are right and the gas prices level off.
“It’s a real stress on the business of just trying to make the numbers look right and still be fair to customers,” he said.
