A Minnesota man was filling up his truck, then he looked at the price: ‘Every day that I go to work, I basically lose an hour’s pay’

A Minnesota man who said he works in mining posted photos from a gas station after filling his work truck. In a Reddit post, he wrote that looking at the pump price made him realize how much of his daily wages were going into fuel for the commute.

“Every day that I go to work, I basically lose an hour’s pay,” he wrote. He said he was filling up the truck that day and realized he was losing about an hour of pay every day putting gas in the vehicle to drive back and forth to work.

He wrote that gas prices where he lives were not even that high and were right at the national average. One photo with the post showed a sign listing unleaded fuel at $4.09.9. A second photo showed him in an orange high-visibility work shirt.

Company transfer stretched his daily drive after a nearby mine was idled

He wrote that he has a mortgage, so he cannot just move to the Northshore area. After 30 years in the industry, he wrote that he is done. He said retiring, drawing his pension, and taking a local job in the $20-an-hour range would probably be more financially advantageous for him. He added that he may even be able to find a job that he actually enjoys.

The only thing keeping him working for the company, he wrote, is the no-cost insurance until his wife qualifies for Medicare. He said he has to find out how much retiree insurance costs.

In an edit to the post, he wrote that the trip is a 160-mile round trip and that his truck gets about 20 mpg. He said the company idled the mine he had worked at, which was about a 10-mile round trip, and transferred him to the current facility.

AAA said the national average for regular gasoline was $4.0807 on August 31, 2026, and the Minnesota average was $4.0093. AAA also said this month was poised to set a new record as the most expensive August at the pump, surpassing the previous August record set in 2022. Such high costs have left many drivers feeling frustrated, as when an Atlanta man decided to beat the system with a bizarre idea. 

AAA said the cost of a gallon of gas averaged at least $4 every day in August for the first time. Gas was $4.09 for a gallon of regular on Friday morning, up $1.87 from one year ago, AAA said. Pump prices were highest in California at $5.65 and lowest in Indiana at $3.44 a gallon, according to the same report.

AAA noted that persistently high oil prices have driven the record fuel costs. Since the start of the Iran war on February 28, oil shipping through the Strait of Hormuz has crawled to a near halt multiple times over the past six months as boats avoid the passageway because of safety concerns, the report said. The strait sees 20 percent of the world’s oil supply pass through it.

According to The Independent, Trump said in April, “The gas will go down as soon as the war is over. It will drop like a rock. There’s so much of it. It’s all over the place, sitting all over the oceans of the world, and it’ll go down.” In June he said, “Gasoline Retailers must get their Prices down, IMMEDIATELY! They’re too high considering that Oil is now at $68 a Barrel, and heading south.”

A Moody’s economist estimated that consumers had paid $59 billion more to fill their tanks from February 28 through May than the year before. February’s inflation rate was 2.4 percent, then jumped to 3.8 percent in April and reached 4.2 percent by May, the report said. Trump told reporters in May, “I don’t think about Americans’ financial situation, I don’t think about anybody. I think about one thing: We cannot let Iran have a nuclear weapon.” 

People responding to the post focused on the commute, the work hours, and the insurance. One commenter wrote, “Unc you look so tired. Hang in there.” Another wrote, “He’s only 25, he just works swing shift.” A third wrote, “Yup, if you don’t look like that they still call you the new guy.”

One person wrote, “Well not only the fuel cost, the time you need for the way is also time which is not really free time but also doesn’t get paid.” Another wrote, “A real American story right here. I feel for you. Thanks for saying what we are all feeling.” One commenter wrote, “I cannot wrap my head around driving 160 miles round trip every day for work.”

Another wrote, “The problem isn’t $4 gas, it’s that you’re driving a truck 160 miles every day.” One person said they felt the same pressure from health coverage, writing that they stay in a long-held job because of the insurance. The financial strain of long commutes is a common theme, as a man in Idaho found vendors making thousands at a farmers’ market.