Toppers Pizza pumped about lower gas prices

Vehicle owners have something to be thankful for this holiday season. According to AAA’s Daily Fuel Gauge report, drivers have benefitted from the lowest retail average for gasoline prices during Thanksgiving year-over-year since 2009, with the national average hitting $2.80 per gallon. These prices are expected to fall even more moving into the holiday season. Nationally, the average has declined on 67 successive days, for a total drop of 58 cents during this time. While many people have felt relief at the gas pumps, some people who drive for a living have experienced it more than others. Michael Faucher, lead delivery driver at Toppers Pizza* in Madison, Wisconsin, has been working at the location for eight years, and this dip in gas prices is putting money back into his pocket, and other delivery drivers just like him. “We burn about 100 gallons of gas a month on average, so every penny that the price goes down means an extra dollar for me and other delivery drivers,” Faucher said. “Regardless of the gas prices, I have to do my job, so this has really been helping financially, especially during the holiday spending season.” At Whitewater, Wisconsin-based Toppers Pizza, drivers are paid a fixed rate per delivery called a “run pay,” and the brand increases this amount to accommodate for higher gas prices. Now that gas prices have fallen from about $4 to $3, that means delivery drivers are taking home roughly an extra $100 per month. As wholesale prices continue to fall, prices are positioned to drop more over the remainder of the year and into 2015. Gas prices next year are projected to average $2.94 a gallon, a dramatic 44-cent decrease than previously forecasted in October, according to the Energy Department. Local businesses are also seeing the positive effects in-store, as people spend less at the pumps and apply more to their local economy. Brand officials said Toppers is one of many restaurant chains benefitting from an increase in their customers’ discretionary income. “This national trend has positively affected people’s pocketbooks in the best way possible,” said Scott Iversen, Toppers Pizza’s vice president of marketing. “Without draining money at the pumps, Americans have more money to spend, and we’re working hard to make sure they spend it with us.”