Tennessee Gas Prices Drop 43 Cents as Thanksgiving Approaches

Tennessee families preparing for Thanksgiving travel will find regular unleaded gasoline averaging $3.49 a gallon, down 43 cents from one month ago, according to AAA.

That decrease follows months of rising prices that strained household budgets across the state. Richard Henry felt the pressure when fuel approached $4 a gallon.

“We was getting squeezed kind of hard with the $3.95, almost 4 dollars a gallon, so yeah, it is absolutely a relief for the gas to be coming down today,” Henry told WBBJ-TV.

He has noticed prices dropping steadily in his area. “Absolutely. I guess any little bit will help,” Henry said to WBBJ-TV.

Lewis Brantley said lower costs simplify everyday routines like commuting to work and taking children to school.

“Well, with gas prices coming down, most definitely makes it easier for us to drive back and forth to work, getting children and stuff to school. You know, it just makes the world revolve a little bit better,” Brantley told WBBJ-TV.

Samantha Borgilt welcomed the relief at the pump but hopes the downward trend continues.

“I hope it keep going down because that would be great. I still remember when we first moved to Tennessee and gas was 99 cents a gallon,” Borgilt told WBBJ-TV.

Despite the recent drop, Tennessee’s average remains 80 cents higher than it was one year ago. Nationally, regular unleaded gasoline dropped below $4 this week for the first time since July.

GasBuddy analyst Patrick De Haan predicts the national average could fall to about $3.75 by Thanksgiving. De Haan said that would still be the highest on record for the Thanksgiving holiday.