SAN DIEGO -- Gasoline prices nationwide are now officially 55 cents higher than they were one year ago. The average cost of a gallon of gas in San Diego is $3.73, and this has some small delivery businesses wondering what to do next.

The record high gasoline prices show no sign of easing any time soon. Everyone no doubt is feeling the pain at the pump but it's being felt particularly hard by small business owners.

It used to be that every time one of CMF Incorporated's delivery vehicles left it meant money coming in. But that's no longer the case, even with a fuel surcharge.

"We do have a gas surcharge which most delivery companies have but sometimes it's just not enough," Jonathan Hesse of CMF Delivery said. "It's not enough to cover it."

CMF specializes in making small deliveries, like blueprints to contractors or deliveries of inter-office mail. CMF driver Ed Bidwell uses his own vehicle on the job and says even though he prepared for the price hike, it's more than he can handle.

"I put aside several thousand dollars knowing this was going to take place and that's getting eaten away day by day," Bidwell said.

Not only is the cost of fuel a problem, but the downturn in the economy is affecting Bidwell's delivery charts. There are fewer runs and there is a noticeable change on the deliveries he is making.

"I'm walking into companies where the phone is not ringing and everyone's in this type of slump or depression emotionally and that's what gets to me," Bidwell said.

Cut backs on delivery orders have left CMF and many others between a rock and a hard place. These businesses are questioning whether to risk losing customers by raising rates.

It's a dilemma shared by all small business, delivery or not.

CMF says from March last year to March of this year its fuel bill went up by $4,000, and that doesn't including diesel prices for their larger trucks.