Labor Day travel cost surge: high gas and grocery prices strain Arizona drivers

PHOENIX - Labor Day is almost here, and that means many Arizonans are ready to hit the road and fire up the grill. But prices on just about everything remain really high, putting a damper on some Labor Day plans.

What we know:

Labor Day weekend is traditionally known for big sales events on everything from appliances to mattresses. But this Labor Day, many Americans are just worried about affording groceries and gas.

Everything is expensive

Quincy is filling up her SUV again today, and the sticker shock still hasn’t worn off.

"I kind of feel like I need gas, so I kinda have to, but it’s frustrating because [of] everything else that’s expensive like groceries and just living in general," Quincy said.

Drivers hitting the road for Labor Day are running into record high gasoline prices for this time of year. The national average for a gallon of regular gas is $4.15. In Arizona, it is $4.53, and in Maricopa County, it is $4.64—more than a dollar a gallon higher than Labor Day last year, according to AAA.

What they're saying:

"It’s gonna be $15 more this year to fill up than it was last year again," said Doug Johnson with AAA. "People are gonna be grumpy about it, but they’re still gonna do it. It’s only $15, but they might do a scale-back in other ways."

Gas and grocery prices collide thanks to super high diesel prices, impacting places like Willie Itule Produce, which has 55 trucks crisscrossing the state. The national average hit $5.85 today, up 55% since the war started with Iran. Those costs tend to trickle down to the dinner table.

"We always you know we feel for the consumer does no one wants higher prices than anything," said Billy Itule of Willie Itule Produce. "I certainly don’t. I know you don’t. It’s just inevitability when when the marketplace is like this so as as a distributor, we were looking at it. How can we still be as cost-effective and as efficient as possible for our customers for our retail partners."

As for Quincy, she regularly drives back-and-forth to California for work and says gas prices nearly doubled the price of her trips. But like most people, it’s hard to live life without groceries and gas.

"I try to find the cheapest gas prices [at] Costco, things like that," Quincy said. "But no, I care a lot. It definitely affects everything."

Dig deeper:

A survey by RetailMeNot shows that Americans' number one purchase for Labor Day won’t be big-ticket items this year. It will be groceries and household essentials at 42%. The next closest category is clothing, way down at 26%.

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