Stations out of Gas TX

[6miths]

I noticed that GasBuddy was struggling a couple of times yesterday. I've been driving around more than usual last few days getting things for the garden and yard. And of course filling up the usual lawnmower and small engine gas cans. No sign or talk of any panic around here although perhaps there should be with the Governor of Michigan demanding that the pipeline the brings western Canadian crude to Ontario refineries (and thus runs through Michigan) be shut down. Hopefully gets sorted out.

 

[Chuckanut]

Just a thought.

Will Texas reverse its laws that require cars to be sold through a dealer? Perhaps, a few more Teslas on the road will save some gas for the rest of the Texas drivers.

 

[REWahoo]

Just a thought.

Will Texas reverse its laws that require cars to be sold through a dealer? Perhaps, a few more Teslas on the road will save some gas for the rest of the Texas drivers.

Don't hold your breath. The Texas Auto Dealers Association spends big bucks bri...uh, lobbying the state legislature to keep the law unchanged.

 

[NW-Bound]

They declare price gouging on gas to be illegal and yet lumber gouging is just fine!
...

Gouging is in the eyes of the [-]beholder[/-] buyer.

I think smartphone makers are gouging too, but nobody says anything about it.

Well, some say it depends on whether something is a necessity vs. a discretionary item. One has to drive, but nobody dies without a new deck.

But even that is not absolute either. A lot of people would die without their smartphones too.

 

[splitwdw]

We really do not know these people's needs though. So hard to judge.

Some people in this area are preparing to pick kids up from college. Another I know is taking a 1400 mile car trip to take a daughter to location of summer internship.

Need gas for those things, and right into the teeth of this shortage.

Thanks for this post.

 

[John Galt III]

Maybe they thought you were panic buying. Gasoline, toilet paper, meat, pool chlorine, and soap. What next?

I know!

 

[stephenson]

I haven't been to the town since Monday evening. Monday evening was fine at a Murphy gas station in Rockwall, TX. In fact, this was my once in a year trip to fill up 50 gallons worth of Puregas (Ethanol-free) for an army of small engines I have at the farm. I would have been real mad if I had to drive 2 hours round trip for nothing. There are very few gas stations around here who has Puregas.

I just checked a couple of manufacturers - don't see any restrictions for fuel for small engines except 87 octane, unleaded.

I think the issue with ethanol in gas related to the fuel line material used - I believe this has all changed.

Now, if you have old engines with original fuel lines, sure nuff, the ethanol will help you identify them

 

[harllee]

I had to travel about 90 miles to take my 90 year old mother to the doctor today and just arrived back home. Most all gas stations I saw were out of gas. The very few that had gas had very long lines, one had a line that stretched at least a quarter of a mile. I saw many cars abandoned along the road, I assume out of gas. I was fortunate to have enough gas to get back home but my tank is approaching empty so no more driving for me until the local stations get some gasoline. I hope that does not take too long. Fortunately where I live there is a good bus system that I will have to use until then.

 

[jollystomper]

Out of curiosity, during my afternoon errands, I checked with a couple of gas stations in our area of the DMV. No long lines. Lines at Costco where the normal length (and still amazed at the much shorter "pump-on-the-right-side-of-the-car" lines, a lot of folks still have not gotten the memo ). Costco did have signs posted: "limit of 2 gas storage containers per transaction". Other than that, all was calm.

 

[audreyh1]

I had to travel about 90 miles to take my 90 year old mother to the doctor today and just arrived back home. Most all gas stations I saw were out of gas. The very few that had gas had very long lines, one had a line that stretched at least a quarter of a mile. I saw many cars abandoned along the road, I assume out of gas. I was fortunate to have enough gas to get back home but my tank is approaching empty so no more driving for me until the local stations get some gasoline. I hope that does not take too long. Fortunately where I live there is a good bus system that I will have to use until then.

Glad you were able to do your trip and get home safely.

 

[audreyh1]

For TX - I think this must have just been a Valley thing. We still saw many stations with covered nozzles today and no one at the pumps. The Costco gas station, however, looked normal busy.

 

[arbeadub]

harlee I'm relieved you made it home. Hope you get fuel soon.
audreyh1 I got fueled up today at same price as it was days ago, I hope its a local problem that will be fixed soon for you.

 

[harllee]

I wonder why this gas shortage has hit my state of North Carolina so hard? It can't just be hoarding. The local news tonight said that over 75% of all gas stations in NC were totally out of gas.

 

[audreyh1]

I do think the pipeline stoppage affected some states badly. Distribution was disrupted.

But people panic buying definitely exacerbated the problem. https://abc11.com/nc-gas-shortage-buddy-station/10624714/

 

[ivinsfan]

I had to travel about 90 miles to take my 90 year old mother to the doctor today and just arrived back home. Most all gas stations I saw were out of gas. The very few that had gas had very long lines, one had a line that stretched at least a quarter of a mile. I saw many cars abandoned along the road, I assume out of gas. I was fortunate to have enough gas to get back home but my tank is approaching empty so no more driving for me until the local stations get some gasoline. I hope that does not take too long. Fortunately where I live there is a good bus system that I will have to use until then.

I'm glad you are back home, but I'm sure that was in no way, shape or form a good trip.

 

[Exchme]

Gulf coast refineries are having to cut back due to the Colonial pipeline being down, so they can't reach the east coast market as easily.

I didn't follow this story too closely, the federal gov't regularly suspends the Jones act in emergencies (Jones Act forces US flagged vessels to be used if the ship goes from one US port to another, the normal fleet moving big quantities of fuel aren't US flagged). If it were suspended, then ships could have gotten from the gulf to the east coast in about a week, so would have been there by now.

That's emergency management 101, anybody know if that was done?

 

[John Galt III]

I've read conflicting reports about whether or not Colonial has paid the ransom to the extortionists. How much can it cost to keep a data system secure from predators? That much?

 

[ponyboy]

Gouging is in the eyes of the [-]beholder[/-] buyer.

I think smartphone makers are gouging too, but nobody says anything about it.

Well, some say it depends on whether something is a necessity vs. a discretionary item. One has to drive, but nobody dies without a new deck.

But even that is not absolute either. A lot of people would die without their smartphones too.

Quite the opposite. Smartphones should cost more than double what they do. Slave labor is being used in other countries to keep costs down and keep profits up for those companies. If smartphones were built in the US, they'd be $2500+ each.

 

[ponyboy]

I wonder why this gas shortage has hit my state of North Carolina so hard? It can't just be hoarding. The local news tonight said that over 75% of all gas stations in NC were totally out of gas.

Yep, its panic buying. Same for anything else that gets bought during panic mode.

When is the last time you went into any store and couldnt find a snickers bar? Not that I buy snickers but im assuming you can go anywhere at any time and find one. Yeah yeah, we know what assume means. Anyway, if everyone in your city/state decides to buy a snickers at the same time, there wont be any snickers bars left in that state. Same thing is happening for gasoline.

No, there is never enough to satisfy every single person at the same time. Most of the time, its not an issue. Not everyone is trying to fill up at the same time/day. Thanks to the news and doom and gloom, they are. Its great for mainstream though.

What I find more fascinating is how easily people are manipulated. We dont even realize how easy we are to control. Of course, everyone will deny it, which is also pre programmed in us.

 

[sengsational]

I've read conflicting reports about whether or not Colonial has paid the ransom to the extortionists. How much can it cost to keep a data system secure from predators? That much?

According to DW, they paid "5 million Bitcoin", but she probably meant $USD 5 million in Bitcoin.

 

[Car-Guy]

According to DW, they paid "5 million Bitcoin", but she probably meant $USD 5 million in Bitcoin.

I've read 5m usd and also I've read 75 bitcoin was paid... And both from several credible sources. (not saying your DW is not credible)

Seems to be a difference between 5m usd and 75 bitcoin but I guess it depends on what day it was paid....

 

[teetee]

I live in NC and I have 1/3 of a tank of gas in the car.

I'm annoyed, because it is definitely panic buying around here that is causing the outages. I wish the governor had never declared an "emergency" because that sent people flocking to the pumps. I understand he did it in order to suspend some kind of fuel regulations, and also to head off potential price gouging, etc.

Given the disgusting behavior of some people (see above story about altercation) I'm not going anywhere near the pumps until next week. People are so predictable - situations like this bring out the very worst in a small number of people.

Oh well - on the bright side, the only place I have to go this week is the dentist, which is 25 miles round trip. Considering I drive a Honda Fit, which gets 33 mpg, I think I'll make it there and back!

A Honda fit is a smart people's car. You can probably squeeze 6 round trips to the same dentist from 1/3 tank of gas with it.

Too bad Honda discontinued Fit for the US and favored the compact SUV. Sometimes I can't tell if people's want determines the manufacturer decisions or the other way around.

 

[harllee]

As for the gas is not really a shortage theory---on the local radio this morning they interviewed a couple of local gas station owners. They said they did not get their normal deliveries of fuel this week. Suppose to get fuel delivery this past Tuesday and it did not come. So there is a supply problem where I live. Sure seems like a shortage to me.

 

[MichaelB]

As for the gas is not really a shortage theory---on the local radio this morning they interviewed a couple of local gas station owners. They said they did not get their normal deliveries of fuel this week. Suppose to get fuel delivery this past Tuesday and it did not come. So there is a supply problem where I live. Sure seems like a shortage to me.

So, glad to see you made it over and back to your DMs appointment without any trouble.

Was the GasBuddy info updated and useful or mostly out of date?

 

[teetee]

Good music again? That would be nice!

That would be nice. I cant say I understand any songs on the billboard in the past decade.