PHOENIX — Mike Donley's gas bill for his fleet of 40 service trucks was $23,000 in January.
This month, he's expecting the Donley Air Conditioning and Plumbing gas bill to be double that.
"I would imagine we're going to get closer to $40,000 in the next month," Donley said.
Donley's crews can't stop driving to homes, and gas prices aren't coming down any time soon. So, Donley is resorting to trying whatever he can to cut down on gas consumption.
"When the price comes up slowly, we can budget for it," Donley said. "But when it's a quick price, like a 25%, 30% increase inside of a week, there's no budgeting for that."
So to cut down, Donley has his employees only working four days a week. His technicians take their trucks home, so Donley is having them resupply the trucks in the field instead of coming to the main office. He's also mapping the shortest and most efficient routes between customers.
Gas prices have skyrocketed since Russia invaded Ukraine. President Biden announced Tuesday that the US would no longer import any Russian oil.
The US only imports a small fraction of its oil from Russia. But economists say it doesn't matter where the oil comes from.
"All the exporters put their oil in a pool and all the importers raw it out," University of Arizona economist George Frisvold said "So even if we're not buying oil from Russia, someone else is."
So, Frisvold said, the worldwide price of oil will impact Mike Donley, regardless of how much Russian oil is in Arizona.
Donley said a gas increase this large is not something he could have planned for, and not can do without.
"We can't fix your plumbing or your air conditioning from our home," Donley said, "so yeah, we have to drive a truck."
To find the lowest gas prices in Arizona, click here.
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