AAA is warning drivers that gas prices aren't likely to come down anytime soon. And that has some businesses that rely on it are worried about their futures.

The price of gas is on the rise again. When you’re filling up 500 trucks a week, it gets expensive.

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"Diesel fuel is one of our single biggest expenses to run these trucks," said Shawn Brown with Cargo Transporters, Inc.

Brown is mayor of Claremont, North Carolina and works for his family's 50-year-old trucking company.

"Each truck has 200 gallons total capacity in their fuel tanks, drivers run on average, you know, around 2,000 miles a week. Some more, some less. You do the math on that."

If you do the math, diesel is up more than a dollar a gallon on average in the last year.

That's about $736 each time one of these fills up and $200 more per truck on average from a year ago.

"Any cost that goes up will hurt your profitability," said Brown.

In North Carolina, prices have seen the biggest annual increase in seven years. Up five cents a gallon for regular fuel in just the last month – in line with national increases.

"Gas prices really have been a roller coaster ride," said Tiffany Wright with the American Automobile Association. "There are places where gas prices don't tend to drop as they do in other places around the country, because they are year round destinations."

And with the price of crude oil, which makes fuel, jumping 30 percent since December due to increased demand but less product on the market - the cost to fill up could continue to rise.

"This is like the necessity of food," said Ellis Hunter. "It's not something that you can put down. Gas is a must. You cannot get from here to there without the gas, so there's no way of getting by it."

Some drivers have found a way. Just a short drive from Charlotte, going from North Carolina into South Carolina can save drivers 10 to 20 cents a gallon on average .

"If we're working over here, we always get gas over here on this side," said Christine Cardell.

Cardell works for a landscaping company that services North and South Carolina. She says the price of gas in any state is too much.

She said it costs around $150 to fill up her vehicle.

"I think it sucks," Cardell said. "It can put me out of business. There are some jobs that i don't even take now because it's, it cost me too much to get there."

One key reason gas prices differ between states is because each one assigns its own tax to a gallon of gas. Those rates can vary widely.

As for the global supply of gas, OPEC hasn't increased oil production as much as the organization promised it would.