LANSING, Mich — As gas prices continue to climb across mid-Michigan, one Lansing small business owner says the pressure at the pump is hitting his bottom line and forcing him to operate smarter just to stay afloat.
- Scott Toupin, owner of Lansing Junk Removal, says his monthly fuel bill has jumped from roughly $2,500 to $3,000 in just the past month.
- AAA data shows Lansing-area gas prices have surged more than 54 cents per gallon in the last 30 days.
- Toupin says he now carefully plans and pairs customer routes every day to reduce unnecessary mileage and keep costs down.
WATCH: 'WE HAVE TO BE SMARTER' — RISING GAS PRICES SQUEEZE LANSING JUNK REMOVAL'S BUSINESS
Scott Toupin has been running Lansing Junk Removal for nearly 18 years a business that hauls unwanted furniture, appliances and household items from homes and businesses across Lansing, Jackson, Howell and surrounding communities, then resells the best of what they find in an on-site thrift and antique store.
It's a business built on wheels and those wheels are getting expensive to keep spinning.
"A month ago we were spending probably about $2,500 a month," Toupin said. "Now we're spending probably closer to $3,000 a month."
WATCH: OIL TOPS $100, GAS PRICES CLIMB BY 55 CENTS AMID MIDDLE EAST VIOLENCE
According to AAA, the average price for regular unleaded in the Lansing-East Lansing metro currently sits at $3.63 per gallon, up nearly 55 cents from just one month ago and more than 64 cents compared to this time last year.
That makes Lansing one of the pricier metro areas in the state.
For Toupin, who runs a fleet of two large box trucks, a Ford F-450, a Dodge Ram pickup and roll-off dumpsters — all running on regular unleaded — those pennies pile up fast.
"We do so many stops running around Lansing," Toupin said. "We do several stops per crew per day... [W]e have to plan the routes accordingly and try and make sure that we're efficient with how we're routing the trucks to keep the prices of the fuel down."
WATCH: REPORTER WILL LEMMINK CHECKS GAS PRICES IN HIS NEIGHBORHOOD OF GRAND LEDGE
Each morning, Toupin maps out the day's jobs and groups customers by geography: pairing stops on the east side together, clustering jobs in St. Johns with runs to DeWitt and batching outlying trips to Jackson and Howell into single-day routes.
"If I see somebody's in Haslett and another customer is in Haslett, I try and pair them together," Toupin said. "That way we're not running all over town chasing after the individual jobs."
WATCH: REPORTER MATT PRYSIAZNY CHECKS GAS PRICES IN HIS NEIGHBORHOOD OF JACKSON
Toupin says he's always tried to run an efficient operation, but the recent spike in gas prices has sharpened his focus.
"We've been making tight adjustments for years, just trying to be efficient," he said. "But ever since the prices have gone up recently, we've really been focusing on keeping that going."
It's a situation he's seen during the early stages of his business when gas nearly hit $5 a gallon.
"[I] just could barely keep a truck on the road," Toupin said. "So having this many trucks and seeing the prices going up in that kind of direction, we're hoping that it doesn't continue and get to be too much."
WATCH: REPORTER COLIN JANKOWSKI CHECKS ON GAS PRICES IN HIS NEIGHBORHOOD OF EAST LANSING
Despite the pressure, there are signs of resilience. Toupin says business has been surprisingly strong, seeing nearly double the revenue in February compared to December, driven by a busy housing market and updated marketing efforts.
Through it all, the part of the job that keeps him going hasn't changed.
"I like the people," Toupin said. "We get to meet a lot of interesting people that are going through different situations, whether moving or downsizing. We really enjoy being part of the community."
As for where gas prices are headed, Toupin isn't overly optimistic but he's not giving up either.
"We just have to sit and go through it all, be a community, and do it together," he said.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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