Local gas-station attendants have felt their pocketbooks shrink as much as drivers have since the start of the most recent gas-price spike.

Adam Coop, manager of the Citgo Road Ranger, 125 N. Annie Glidden Road, said that a surge in gas prices can change demand, but only for a short time.

“[Business] decreases for a little bit after a big increase – maybe about a week,” Coop said. “After a while, it pretty much goes back to normal because people need [gas].”

Coop said he does not see gas prices changing too much in the near future since the price has remained fairly stable – about $2 per gallon – over the past few months.

Crystal Baldwin, a shift supervisor at Sycamore’s Corral Marathon, 503 E. State St., said she also does not see any relief ahead.

“It’s really not changing. Our bosses are talking about selling some of their stores so they can focus on [successful ones],” Baldwin said.

She said the business is breaking even on gas sales, which has the station relying on the sales of other products for profit.

“If you can’t get people in to buy cigarettes or pop, you can’t make money,” Baldwin said.

Not only have many of the attendants’ benefits been stripped, Baldwin also said that drive-offs, which have increased since the price spike, have also cut drastically into workers’ paychecks.

“It’s becoming ridiculously hard for cashiers to catch drive-offs. Our bosses make us pay for it,” Baldwin said. “It’s hard when you’re making $6.50 an hour and you have to pay for somebody’s $40 tank of gas.”

Lately, Baldwin has been putting only $5 to $10 of gas into her car because she simply cannot afford to put anymore in, she said.

Although gas prices remain high, they are not as high as they were a month ago.

Khan Mohabbat, an NIU economics professor and gas price expert, said the price per barrel actually have gone down slightly over the past few weeks.

“On Oct. 25, gas was $55.67 a barrel, which is probably the highest I’ve ever seen. [Tuesday] they were about $48 a barrel,” Mohabbat said.

He said that although prices are gradually decreasing, he does not think they will go down much more than they already have.

“Over the past year, gas [per barrel] has increased 53 percent. If you’re looking for some type of relief, I don’t see one,” Mohabbat said.

Gas prices should remain stable for about a year, but Mohabbat said he thinks another rise will be seen after that.

“You have to look at the situation worldwide. It’s a question of supply and demand and the demand worldwide is high,” Mohabbat said.