Let it flow: Fuel sellers whiff an increase

Gas station owners, traditionally a tough business to flush out a profit, are pumping out thicker margins.

Net profit margins on average rose nearly 3% in 2013 over 2012, compared with a 1.6% increase in 2012 over 2011, according to Raleigh, N.C.-based financial data firm Sageworks. Industry-wide sales rose only about 1%, adds Sageworks, in a new report.

In real dollars, or coins, that means private gas station owners took home about a dime per every gallon sold in 2013. That's up from a nickel in 2012, assuming the same price at the pump. More inverse reaction: In 2008, reports Sageworks, when prices hit a record average of $4.11 per gallon, profit margins were even smaller, at 0.9%.