GasBuddy said the national average price for regular gas fell below $4 per gallon for the first time since early August, a drop that gave some relief to drivers and small businesses in the South Valley. In Tulare, Quick Fill posted the cheapest gas in the Visalia-Tulare area at $4.69 a gallon, while Fresno prices fell 11 cents in the past week to an average of $5.54.
For Carina Gomez, the shift matters because fuel costs do not stop at the pump. She said Tacos San Marcos raised prices at the beginning of this year after gas climbed, and she still spends about $30 to run a single generator for 8 to 9 hours on one food truck. With six food trucks working on the same day, she said, the cost multiplies fast.
GasBuddy also said the highest average price for regular in Visalia reached $6.36 last month, a reminder of how much room prices had to fall before today’s relief showed up. That is why the national drop matters now: even after the recent slide, it only just cleared a level it had not seen since early August, after months of high gas and diesel prices.
Carina Gomez said her sales tend to rise a little when fuel gets cheaper, and Celeste Ontiveros described the latest change as something that makes driving easier. Ontiveros said it cost her $75 to fill her Chevy Malibu when gas was at its highest. GasBuddy said the decline is part of a seasonal shift as cooler weather reduces demand, which suggests the easing may hold only as long as that pattern does.
