TEXAS — Gas prices are continuing to rise at the pump across the state. A gallon of regular gas is now more than $3.81 compared to an average of $2.73 a month ago, according to AAA.

For diesel, prices rank higher. AAA currently cites a green-handled gallon at $5.16 in Texas, compared to $3.48 a month ago.

Amongst normal drivers commuting to and from work, businesses that utilize diesel-run semi-trucks are feeling the impact by thousands of dollars.

“A truck that was, last week, I was paying $4,200 for it from the northwest,” said Nando Gonzalez, a partner at River City Produce in San Antonio. “It’s almost $7,000 this week.”

While some food distributers apply a surcharge to customer invoices, Gonzalez tries to avoid those as much as he can, saying he only has surcharges for circumstances like an “off day” delivery.

“I don’t figure a freight rate when the market is this high. I absorb that,” he said. “What I’m talking about, absorbing the costs, is my delivery costs, what we are charging to deliver, we’re not charging that out. Because it’s a double whammy to the consumer.”

Skeeter Miller hasn’t been as lucky in trying to avoid the surcharges.

Miller is the owner of The County Line, a Central Texas barbeque restaurant chain with multiple locations calling Austin home. Diesel has risen enough for Miller to change his prices, despite wishing to hold them steady.

“That’s $43.99. It used to be $39.99,” Miller said, pointing to beef ribs on his menu. “We just changed it.”

Whether it’s absorbing cost like River City Produce is doing or raising menu item prices like Miller has done, both players in the food supply chain notice that with increasing fuel costs, spending habits are changing dramatically.

“Even a 50-cent increase in a gallon of gas takes about $60 billion out of our economy,” said Kelsey Erickson Streufert, the chief public affairs officer at the Texas Restaurant Association.

She mentioned that restaurant owners should play to their strengths and rely on their customer base to keep operations as steady as they can.

“Proteins are a big deal,” Miller said. “We’re a protein-driven business, so that’s a good thing. I got to look at the bright spots.”

At the produce warehouse, Gonzalez said this era of high gas prices is yet another obstacle he has to face. He calls it the cost of business.