Rising fuel costs are showing up at the pump at a Syracuse-area gas station. © 2026 Alexa Korrie
SYRACUSE, N.Y. (NCC News) — Daniel Deyle didn’t need to look hard to see how much gas prices have cost his business this year. He simply checked their fuel logs.
“We’ve spent $34,000 over what we spent last year to date, from Jan. 1 till today,” Daniel Deyle, general manager and owner of Michael Grimm Landscape & Tree Service, said. “I didn’t dive into it any deeper than that, but thinking back on the trends of fuel, most of that’s probably come in the last two months.”
The timing of the spikes could not be worse. Deyle said fall is typically when landscaping and tree service companies bank money for the slow winter months ahead. Instead, Deyle said, that money is going straight into the tank.
“I hate to take any type of hit this time of year because we’re seasonal, and we’re just starting to get to a point where we’re able to take money and put it in the savings account to help us get through the wintertime,” Deyle said. “Instead of doing that, we’re buying fuel.”
Deyle said the company’s weekly fuel bills have doubled.
“I see our fuel bills have gone from 3,500 to 4,000 weekly. We’re running up around 8 to 10,000 a week now,” he said.
Gas prices have climbed nationwide since the start of the war with Iran, as of October 1, the national average went up 48%, according to NBC News.
Gas prices climb at a Syracuse-area gas stations. © 2026 Alexa Korrie
According to AAA, the national average for a gallon of gas is $4.41, and drivers in Syracuse are paying almost 10 cents more than that.
Syracuse University professor of supply chain practice Patrick Penfield said the Middle East conflict is driving the spike, and that relief, if it comes, won’t be immediate. He described it as a “feather and rocket” effect: prices shoot up quickly, but come down slowly.
“There’s a feather and a rocket effect,” Penfield said. “When you hear things that are going on in the Middle East and things go up, prices shoot up, and then they don’t come down automatically. That’s the feather approach. So it takes time for it to actually come down.”
For businesses like Deyle’s, planning for inflation is difficult even in a normal year and nearly impossible during a sudden shock to the system.
“We do try to forecast out how much fuel will rise in a year. Not always accurate, though,” Deyle said. “If it goes up two and a half dollars a gallon, we don’t see that coming.”
Deyle said he’s considered raising prices to offset the cost but has decided against it for now.
“Right now, we absorb it,” he said. “In the past, when we’ve tried to do a fuel surcharge or anything like that, it just creates animosity with the clients.”
That leaves the company covering the difference themselves, heading into the season when it can least afford to.
VIDEO TRANSCRIPT: Gas Prices Surge
Alexa Korrie: Gas prices are climbing nationwide, and Syracuse is feeling the impact. The national average is up 48% since the start of the war with Iran. Now, the average is just over $4.40 a gallon, and here in Syracuse, drivers are paying almost $0.10 more. Syracuse University Supply Chain Professor Patrick Penfield explains what’s driving the increases.
Patrick Penfield: The Middle East conflict. I mean, that’s really the kind of the epicenter of all the price increases right now, and until that is resolved, then we’re going to continue to see these price fluctuations.
Korrie: And the fluctuations are changing how people spend their money, like Syracuse University commuter Sean Bombard.
Sean Bombard: I definitely do just go out less. I probably get food less often with my friends just cause it’s an added price onto everything I already have to pay for, like insurance and gas.
Korrie: Daniel Deyle runs a local landscaping and tree service and says higher fuel costs have added thousands to his expenses.
Daniel Deyle: We’ve spent $34,000 over what we spent last year.
Alexa Korrie: Now, the price at the pumps behind me is what drivers see as soon as they pull up, but for small businesses here in Syracuse like Deyle’s, that price adds up with every truck and every job. Penfield says even if prices fall, relief won’t come right away.
Penfield: So when you hear things that are going on in the Middle East and things go up, so prices shoot up and then they don’t come down, you know, automatically. And that’s the feather approach, so it takes time for it to actually come down.
Korrie: For now, higher fuel prices will continue to affect local drivers and businesses. Alexa Korrie, NCC News.