Eric Smith, a truck driver owner and operator, says the rising cost of gasoline makes business harder and harder by the day.

At the QuikTrip at Ellenwood Road and I-675, Smith, 37, of Lithonia said high gasoline prices are eating up one quarter of his revenue.

"It's killing us," Smith said of truck drivers, who are feeling the pinch. "It ain't no savings on fuel. You're practically working for less than what you should make."

Smith's frustration came as a new survey said the national average price for gasoline rose 5 cents over the last two weeks.

The average price of self-serve regular gasoline on Friday was just under $3.32 a gallon, mid-grade was $3.44 and premium was $3.55. That's according to the Lundberg Survey of 7,000 stations nationwide released Sunday. Trilby Lundberg, the survey's publisher, said Lundberg publishes the survey twice a month.

"It is the highest on record — nominally and also inflation-adjusted," said Lundberg.

Of the cities surveyed, the cheapest price was in Newark, N.J., where a gallon of regular cost $3.03, on average. The highest was in San Francisco at $3.72.

Lundberg said they studied more than 100 metro Atlanta stations in the most recent survey. The survey reports that Atlanta area gas prices topped at $3.24 per gallon of regular on April 4, the day Lundberg said prices were measured across the U.S. On Feb. 8, gas prices were at $2.90 per gallon, according to the survey.

David Chapman, 44, of Eunice, La., an independent driver, whose been driving for 15 years, said the diesel prices are way out of hand.

"It's pretty rough. It's cheaper to make diesel, yet it's 80 cents more a gallon."

At the intersection of Northside Parkway and West Paces Ferry, where regular gas was $3.49 a gallon at a Shell station, Denise DeBerry, 47, of Vinings, said there's no way to avoid the high prices, and she typically goes for convenience rather than cost savings.

"Sometimes it's convenience versus driving five miles to a place that's cheaper," she said.

Average price per gallon for unleaded gas:

..............Atlanta....USA

Friday ....$3.23....$3.31

Thursday ..$3.23....$3.31

Week ago ..$3.22....$3.29

Month ago..$3.15....$3.19

Year ago ..$2.52....$2.73

Source: AtlantaGasPrices.com