ESCONDIDO, Calif. - Let??s say it together and say it loud: when the price of crude oil increases, so does the price of motor fuels at the pump.

And for the small, independent operator, gas price increases mean they operate on razor-thin margins, writes the North County Times, as they struggle to compete with the larger, national chains. In fact, many end up losing money on each gallon of fuel sold because they avoid setting their price higher than their branded retail competition.

The newspaper writes that, according to some rough arithmetic performed by the California Energy Commission, unbranded gas stations lost, on average, 3 cents a gallon sold in the week ending Friday, while the branded gas stations made 10 cents a gallon, before subtracting expenses.

In recent weeks, retailers have been getting wholesale price updates twice a day. For operators like Habans Hari, owner of Winchester Ranch Market, he had the chance to buy regular unleaded for $3.62 Wednesday morning. By the afternoon, the price increased to $3.68. His price on Wednesday was $3.75, but expected to increase it to $3.85 on Thursday do absorb the increase.

"How much am I supposed to shoulder?" Hari told the newspaper, adding, "What can I do? The wholesale price is going up every day. Sometimes I lose the money."

Nick Matti, a part owner of Varso Gas Inc. in Escondido, told the newspaper that on Tuesday his margins slumped to 4 cents a gallon, which is well under his preferred rate near 10 cents a gallon.

Higher prices at the pump also mean less foot traffic inside the store and therefore fewer purchases of in-store merchandise.

Share with your customers how the U.S. motor fuels marketplace works by linking to information contained in the NACS Fuels Report. Also, read this month??s NACS Magazine feature, "Getting the Word Out," for a look at how NACS conveys the industry??s motor fuels messaging to the media and your customers.