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Cody Eggleston winces as the beating sun bakes the empty forecourt of the gas station he manages in Needles, the small town on historic Route 66 hugging the banks of the winding Colorado River.
With turbo-charged pump prices reaching the stratosphere, the slim 28-year-old may be the loneliest gas station boss in all of California as fed-up drivers flee to cheaper pump prices.
Cody said savvy fuel shoppers – severely rattled by inflated prices in the Golden State – are flocking just one mile across the nearby K Street Bridge into adjacent Arizona where gas is far more wallet-friendly.
When The Post visited Cody’s Mobil station on Needles Highway, a gallon of regular gas cost an eye-watering $6.99.
Meanwhile, across the state border just a six-minute drive up Mohave Valley Highway into the Grand Canyon State, an identical gallon was available for just $4.09.
“We used to get a lot of traffic, anybody coming out of California, every single person would stop here,” recalled Cody, who called out the state’s destructive eco-friendly fuel taxes for ravaging his business.
But today those good times are a distant memory.
Now even cost-conscious locals working in Needles — a 5,000-strong community known as the “Gateway to California” — don’t bother to purchase fuel there.
“The people [who work in Needles] all live in Arizona and we all get our fuel in Arizona,” explained Cody.
“We don’t buy gas in Needles, we all go across the bridge to Arizona. Right now I just paid $4.19 for premium and if you look at our premium it’s $6.60 right now.”
He said his gas station has also endured a “dramatic” reduction in traffic in recent years.
The number of people who purchase gas dropped off in 2020 during Covid, Cody said, who doubles as a mechanic.
“They definitely stopped showing up as often and they’d drive straight past and they all go to Arizona, on the way to Lake Havasu or the Grand Canyon,” said the dad-of-two.
“Basically, anywhere on Route 66 they just drive right past us now.”
Shockingly, business is down more than 50 per cent overall in recent years. The station previously sold one million gallons a year.
From January this year until April 29, the current sales total stands at 78,000. In 2025 there were 305,000 gallons sold – and in 2024 it was 426,000.
“Customers come in to use the restroom and say they’re going to get gas in Arizona,” added Cody.
The war with Iran hasn’t helped, Cody continued.
He said: “The prices in California, just last week we were at about $8 a gallon… whenever the Strait of Hormuz thing was happening prices were ridiculous.”
Across the bridge in Arizona’s Mohave Valley, a small town of just under 3,000, gleeful drivers fill up their tanks knowing they are saving money.
Caregiver Samantha Walsh, 22, visiting her boyfriend from Apple Valley in California, spoke with the Post as she filled up the tank in her Kia at the Arco station on Harbor Avenue before the three-hour drive home.
“You save two or three more dollars,” she said of the huge price difference. “There’s a difference for sure. “I make minimum wage so it’s helping to get gas in Arizona rather than California for sure.”
She said she was saving about $20 per tank filling up before hitting the road.
Local married mom-of-two Raven Carpenter, 30, was also pumping gas at the same Arco and would “absolutely not” buy gas in California.
Gas is generally “expensive but going across the bridge is way worse. I can’t afford that.” The zookeeper said of her family: “We all stay on the California side. Most of us would never go there.
“We like our little small town prices. I drive an hour and a half to work so gas is really important to me. I really have to budget and plan well.
“So any time I budget I make sure I don’t go across the bridge and I stay on the Arizona side. My husband also drives an hour to work so it’s a huge part of our budget.”
Together, the couple spends up to $400 a week on gas “so that adds up very quickly. “I couldn’t imagine having to pay California prices.”
Arco owner Paul Sun, 70, told the Post: “People from across the river come this way for gas. They’re glad that we’re here.”
As a Post reporter prepared for their return run back to Los Angeles, the decision where to fill up before jumping on the freeway was – of course – an easy one.
English (US)