As part of the “Road to Recovery” series, correspondents across the country check in with local businesses to see how it’s going. Our business has been Fuel City, a gas station/ranch that sits right across from downtown Dallas. When we last talked with the man who owns Fuel City two months ago, gas prices were at $2.30 a gallon nationally. Since then, they’ve gone up- and down. For the first few weeks prices went up. Fuel City owner John Benda says that’s normal. As the Fourth of July approaches, gas prices generally nudge upward. But right before the Fourth, prices started going down, something that had Benda scratching his head. Usually prices level off after the Fourth, not decline. A gallon of gas is now at $2.46 nationally, down from $2.69 just about a month ago. Benda blames supply– there’s a lot of volume out there.

Where will gas prices head next? Benda’s betting they’ve hit bottom and will soon be heading up again. Gas futures may bolster his hunch. Analysts theorize they’re climbing on hopes that people will start feeling better about the economy and use more, goosing demand. For his part, Benda hasn’t seen any loosening of the purse strings at the pump. He says where his customers used to fill up, now they’re just putting in five or ten dollars.