Fed up trying to fill’er up?

It happens every time Robert Salas tries to fill his tank.

The pump stops at $75.

“And you know that's all you're going to get? That's all I'm going to get,” said Salas.

Many credit card companies have set limits on purchases made at gas stations. Salas' $75 max is designed to limit credit card theft.

But with rising fuel prices, he hits his limit before his tank is full. Customers have to re-authorize their cards or use a different one.

It’s another nuisance at the pump and don't think somebody isn't making money off of it. In fact, gas station owners say credit card companies get a usual surcharge of more than two percent. So as gas prices go up, so do credit card company’s profits.

“The credit card fees are killing us,” said Statiras Bothis. He’s been in the gas business for more than 20 years. And he knows that the senate’s latest plan to halt shipments into the country’s strategic petroleum reserve won’t make much a difference at the pump.

And the experts agree.

“The effects are actually going to be very small,” said oil industry expert Andrew Lipow.

The daily strategic petroleum reserve shipment is only 3/10 of one percent of the oil needed in our country. It alone won't lower prices, said Lipow.

What will?

“I think they're going to decline, but for other reasons because gas inventory is in very good shape and is rising while demand is off,” said Lipow.

Lipow said that the lower demand could mean lower gas prices after Memorial Day.