Toledo drivers are finally catching a break at the pump — and the timing is turning heads. WTOL reported this morning (Nov. 2) that Toledo-area gas prices have fallen roughly 30 cents over the past week, bringing the average down to $4.11 a gallon.

AAA numbers paint an even friendlier picture for NW Ohio: the Toledo metro averaged $4.09 a gallon — a 29-cent weekly drop — against a statewide average of $4.13, per WHIO/Stacker’s AAA breakdown.

The relief is national, too: GasBuddy reports the U.S. average slid 17.1 cents to $4.12 a gallon, with Ohio posting one of the biggest weekly drops in the country at 26 cents. The reason: ExxonMobil’s Joliet, Illinois refinery restarted after a temporary shutdown, according to GasBuddy analyst Patrick De Haan.

Across the state line, Michigan is seeing the same trend — the Detroit Free Press reports Michigan’s average fell about 30 cents too. But at $4.52 a gallon, NW Ohio drivers near the border still do better filling up on the Ohio side.

Some perspective: Ohio has suspended roughly 38.5 cents per gallon of state gas tax since Oct. 4 as part of a three-month holiday — and even so, drivers are still paying more than $1.50 a gallon more than a year ago, per AAA data via the Free Press.

Bottom line: real pocketbook relief landing the day before Election Day, after a campaign season in which candidates across the board made fuel prices a talking point. Toledo drivers — the move is simple. Fill up now while prices are sliding.

https://x.com/WTOL11Toledo/status/2117217950411182560

Fuel pumps at a Valero gas station — photo: Harrison Keely, CC BY, via Wikimedia Commons.