Why is our gas crisis being ignored?

reply to post by SuperSecretSquirrel



I work in Atlanta and gas shortages have never been this long or widespread.But it still manageable.

I agree it's BS besides what would have happened if it was a cat 5 hurricane and hit an even more vital area. But is it a credit freeze? At least traffic is lighter.

I live and work in the Nashville area and I think we are mostly getting back to normal now. I blame the whole mess on the media in the first place. I don't believe that we were ever threatened with a gas shortage until they showed up on the 6 o'clock news and said that there wouldn't be any gas by the weekend. That stupid story was based on a rumor as it was. So guess what, mass panic and everyone rushes to the gas station and now we actually have a gas shortage because people are filling up five cars and twelve gas cans. Anyway, long story short, there was never a gas shortage, except the one created by morons on the news. It has nothing to do with the credit freeze.

So some are saying the gas shortage is due to credit or lack there of for the stores.

Well i could understand that. But here where i live the store don't own the gas pumps the supplier does so the stores don't pay for the gas they receive and there for they don't need credit to buy the gas either.

From everything i have seen this is a supply issue as the pipe lines that serve the area's being effected were damaged. we can play arm chair quarter back and say its because of this or its not this because so and so said they have backup power and this and that.

The very simple fact is some of the refineries were flooded, they lost power, there was damage to the pipelines. all of which takes time to fix and get the flow of gas back to 100% thru the pipelines. The reason you don't see a line of tankers headed to the effected areas is its a large area that is being effected and the distributors would lose huge amounts of money that they simply cannot afford to do right now. its cheaper to let the effected areas to have a shortage then to truck fuel from hundreds of miles away.

Also if you start taking fuel from those areas that are not having a shortage you will cause a shortage in those areas by shipping their gas to you.

Just sit tight you'll get gas no use getting all bent out of shape about it. buy a bike so you can get to the store and by food. instead of wasting time sitting in line for gas.



[edit on 9/30/2008 by Mercenary2007]

Still no gas? Even in Nashville? Wow tells you how well the media has been reporting this. Well at least I live in Wyoming if this spreads we'll probably be hit second to last. Man I have no idea what'd I'd do without gas I need it to get back home in Colorado. I guess I could always hitch a ride on a train, or ride my bike... but that's like 500 miles.

Still no gas in Atlanta, although it does seem to be getting a little better today. I think. Some of the "flagship" QuickTrips in my town are out, but the BP right up the road actually got a couple tankers in one day and they expect delivery to remain steady. We shall see...

Atlanta is so bad, that people are buying $40-$60 Sams Club memberships JUST to be able to use their gas pumps. I was there over the weekend, and it really is beyond bizarre.

All the rappers and 'Atlanta's housewives' using all the gas on there SUV's.....nah just joking, but seriously there really isn't to big of a gas problem here in San Antonio. Gas is between 3.50 and 3.60 depending whether or not I get it on or off base.

Here in East Tennessee (Tri-Cities area) the gas shortage continues to be a problem. Just today, pulled into a Mobil gas station and all they had was regular gas. All stations in the area have had bags on the pumps at least a day or two this past week. Thankfully they all aren't out of gas at the same time. The problem has gotten much better than it was in the first 10 days after the hurricanes... but it is still a problem. What sux is traveling around the state, not knowing for sure if there will be gas wherever it is that you need to exit to fuel up. For those that only have to travel locally then the gas problem is a pain but can be tolerated (you just have to drive around a little to find gas). But for those that have to travel for work and depend on being able to fuel up anywhere and anytime... it's scary. On top of that, food prices have been steadily going up and people have been losing jobs due to it. Something needs to be done about it.

Dry gas pumps, long lines, drivers topping off and squirreling away gas in a panic. Sound like an emergency?

Maybe, Maybe not.

Gov. Sonny Perdue has intervened to ease environmental regulations to boost supplies and prevent price gouging.

Gas lines? You’re on your own.

AJC Link

Woke up this morning to this little gem in the newspaper. Why on EARTH would we want to do anything about the shortage? Instead, all we get is the condescending "Don't panic, it'll get better" We're not CHILDREN, stop treating us like we are!

I worked for a petroleum hauler for five years, in fact, one of the biggest in Atlanta - If you live in the Southeast you have seen their trucks on the road. With that background let me share a few facts about the industry which hauls the fuel to your local station.

The companies that haul the fuel are mostly contracters, that means it isn't BP or Shell ( even if they have the logos on their trailers) that is delivering the fuel. My company had trucks with logos from many different suppliers. Most of your stations aren't owned by the oil companies either, what happens is the station owner pays the oil company a price for using their logo and promises to only buy the branded fuel for the logo which they display. Places like Sam's Club and Wal-Mart buy unbranded fuel (Both of these were huge accounts for us).


Tankers work locally. Tankers aren't going to come from more then a couple of hundred miles away if that. It just isnt' worth for a truck to come from any significant distance with a measley 8800 Gallons of gasoline. In the five years I worked for one of the biggest haulers of fuel in the Southeast we never once shipped fuel any further then Jacksonville ( I worked at the Tampa terminal)

It's not the haulers fault, they load the fuel at either a pipeline ( IN Orlando for example ) or at a port ( Tampa) , If it isn't available there then they isn't anything they can do about it.

I've worked through a couple of hurricanes and frankly I find the current situation fishy, anytime a hurricane is close both the haulers and the suppliers will plan ahead to keep shortages from happening - Then again I haven't worked in the industry for five years so maybe things have changed.

I'd just like to say also that tanker drivers work their asses off for what I consider a crap wage - If you see one in an area of shortages, please rememeber that and don't take out your frustrations on him or her.

reply to post by CeltAngel
the media says it will be ok when it will not.....it's call neuro-linquistic programming, an interpersonal communication model and approach to psychotherapy........WARNING: Media NLP Danger! READ! www.abovetopsecret.com...

whatever the news media and Bush tells you is a bunch of BS. stop listening to the media.

reply to post by MissysWorld


Thanks so much the link to your DC stroy does not work however! Sorry been gone for a bit, long saga involving my 6-year old son and a bright orange bee-bee in his ear canal! He does not know how it got there, so I now believe it was placed as some form of government tracking device! (No sir just playing, it really was the aliens!)

Anyways on a serious note- I will do some more reading and look at all of this again today! I was very glab to hear NPR get o hold of it they did a 10 minute piece on it yesterday and had on there people who are from the area saying it has never been this bad. NPR also discussed how they keep telling everyone it will be a few days and now they are saying it will be weeks.

Has the gas shortage got better yet?

I was just reading a post about Catalyst Energy filing for bankruptcy. From the article it looks like it was due to credit so maybe other companies are also struggling to get credit?

www.abovetopsecret.com...

reply to post by Merigold
my ex is still in the gas business but hoping to close soon. our gas is piped through colonial pipeline and we have supply lines in athens, georgia and seneca, south carolina. you are right about truckers not wanted to haul too great a distance for freight only. the company only make a cent a gallon. not much, huh. not to mention 7.5% state motor fuel tax; 10.1% pre-paid tax; .005 environmental tax; sales tax; 18.4% federal tax; the company paid 46% more freight and there is a fuel service charge. what to but a gas company anyone!!!!!!!



[edit on 5-10-2008 by musselwhite]

Originally posted by Maya00a
Has the gas shortage got better yet?

I can vouch that in and around Atlanta, the situation is MUCH better. It was strange, almost overnight (Thursday night), most all stations seemed to have a steady supply of at least 87 octane and no more long lines. Most don't seem to have much mid or high octane, not sure about diesel, but as far as 87 octane, Atlanta is doing pretty good now.

I would tend to agree with evilod. the situation appears to have gotten better. Over the weekend I did notice a number of stations without gas. However, the number of stations WITH gas had to at least equal those without (in my area).

How about in other cities? What about Nashville, Charlotte, etc?

The Charlotte, NC area is in a lot better shape this weekend. Every place I've passed on my way to and from work has gas, but none have the premium grades.

While I was filling up on Friday a guy next to me says, "Wait 'till they run out of diesel fuel. Then it's going to be a world of s__t. Just wait, it's coming."

I told him thanks for giving me more bad news!


Does anyone else know about a diesel fuel shortage?

reply to post by uplander


A quick google search shows some rumblings about a possible diesel shortage in India. I know China has them off and on - I'd wager simply due to skyrocketing demand. I haven't seen anything about one in the US.

One thing to definitely keep an eye on though is the PRICE of diesel. We're rapidly coming close to the point (and in some cases surpassed the point) where it will no longer be profitable to drive. Once that happens, truck drivers will no longer be able to drive goods around the country and THAT will have a far greater effect than anything else we've seen thusfar.

my gas crisis doesn't get ignored,I'm always getting kicked out of bed


[/obligatory crass remark]

it certainly not any better in northeast georgia where convenience stores are closing their doors until there is gas. i've seen more closed businesses associated w/the gas crises. our Ford dealership just closed its doors last week. as from where i live...............not so good and it is still right at $4 per gallon.
Today 3.981
Yesterday 3.821
One Week Ago 3.955
1 Month Ago 3.581
1 Yr Ago 2.759

national average today 3.430. so for the south and in my neck of the woods not so good.