Marie Srock, of Mars, finishes filling up gas in her daughter's car at the American Natural gas station at the intersection of Routes 8 and 228. Srock said she was “shocked” by the cost to fill the vehicle. “That was more than I expected for a small car,” she said.

If you’re planning to hit the road this holiday weekend, be prepared to pay more to fill up your vehicle’s gas tank.

Gasoline prices continue to climb and are expected to do so throughout the summer.

Gas prices in Western Pennsylvania are averaging $3.25 a gallon. The national average is nearly 5 cents higher than a month ago, and 92 cents higher than this time last year, when prices were low largely due to a decrease in travel because of COVID-19 restrictions.

AAA is estimating more than 47.7 million people will travel at least 50 miles this weekend. About 90% of them will drive. That would be the second highest number of people over the July 4 holiday ever, trailing only 2019.

“There was a major uptick in travel for Memorial Day, and it appears Independence Day will continue the trend,” according to Bevi Powell, senior vice president for AAA East Central.

And GasBuddy petroleum analyst Patrick De Haan said motorists should prepare to dig deeper for the remainder of the summer.

“We may eventually go up again in the weeks ahead,” he said. “Oil prices are dancing around about $74 a barrel: That’s the highest level since 2018. Gas price is well over $3 and we may not go back under $3 until fall.”

De Haan said talk about gas shortages is exaggerated.

“There’s no supply issue anywhere; refineries are churning out 10.3 million barrels of gasoline every day,” De Haan said.

As the nation’s economy recovers from the coronavirus pandemic, demand for fuel is rising and pushing prices to levels not seen since 2014.

And hurricane season always carries the potential for higher prices if a storm affects oil drilling and refining on the Gulf Coast.

Another factor driving the cost at the pump nationally is a lack of truck drivers transporting gasoline.

When gasoline consumption plummeted a year ago as the economy was largely shut down, tankers were parked and many drivers retired or went to work elsewhere, the Associated Press reported.

Between 20% to 25% of the country’s tanker trucks are idle because a lack of drivers, reports the National Tank Truck Carriers, an industry trade group.

The NTTC says many fuel-hauling companies reduced staff during the pandemic. That situation could last for another 12 months, according to Bloomberg.

Marie Srock, of Mars, finishes filling up gas in her daughter’s car at the American Natural gas station at the intersection of Route 8 and 228. Srock said she was “shocked” by the cost to fill the vehicle. “That was more than I expected for a small car,” she said.Seb Foltz/Butler Eagle

Marie Srock, of Mars, fills up gas in her daughter’s car at the American Natural gas station at the intersection of Route 8 and 228. Srock said she was “shocked” by the cost to fill the vehicle. “That was more than I expected for a small car,” she said.Seb Foltz/Butler Eagle