Gas Availability

Ethanol is already making a big splash here in the farm states. Problem in Missouri is that there are only 14 distributors across the entire state! Illinois and Iowa have more. When gas price hit $2.50/gal. it became viable.

My daughter and her friend are planning to drive down from Georgia Tech to Seagrove for Labor Day weekend tomorrow. The car won't make it all the way to the beach on one tank. Does anyone have a guess as to whether she will be able to get here and, more importantly, get back to ATL on Monday so she can attend class on Tuesday AM?

My suggestion to her was to never get below half a tank so that if she has trouble getting gas, she wouldn't run out before she found a station with gas available. I mean, you don't want a 20-year-old stranded. Plus, thanks to T-Mobile, she can't get a cell phone signal between Troy and Defuniak Springs. I guess that's a piggish suggestion (having her keep her tank at least half full, but I don't want her stranded). I'd tell just not to come, but the beach is a nice way for a college student to relax from the stress of studying.

Gas is fine here in LA! In the midst of the craziness and thousands of evacuees- we have gas. This stuff was all started with panic & media ( as the above poster stated ) Too much demand for the supply when people ran out and gassed up. Plus, all the message boards which are wreaking havoc and causing more panic. Hubby went all the way up to Little Rock today and not one station on the way was out. No lines either.

I just made a proposal to our company president to go to four 10 hour days until this gas crisis is over. He said he'd consider it. Just think if everyone drove 1 less day a week -- that would be a huge savings!! I would cut out 64 miles a week!

Great idea. We all know that in addition to conservation of gas that you want the Friday or Monday off to go to SoWal for the long weekends. Sneaky, very sneaky. :clap_1: :!:

Exactly, let's stop topping off the tanks. I have not touched a gas pump since the H. Katrina. I am limiting my driving, too.

Me too...I think we should conserve gas if for no other reason than to leave plenty for the evacuation and rescue operations. I will give up a trip (especially a short one) to SoWal for a while. Also, maybe if everyone slows down on buying, it will help the prices come down sooner.

Well, I finally ran low on gas and just filled up at the Tom Thumb in Seagrove. I was not going to look at the price, but I could not help but to look. Regular gas is $2.59 9/10 per gal. Woo-hoo! Also, they had 18pks of rice beer(coors light) for $4.99 -- that is cheaper than bottled water. I had to get some. I think it is a NFL promotion. I also heard of Bud and Miller running similar promos at various local locations.

The pump I was on was out of the mid-grade. I would guess that all pumps run out of the same tanks.

For you diesel owners, I understand from several people, that they cannot find diesel. Reports are there is none in Lower Alabama area north of here either.

They are probably trying to get everyone drunk & carefree, before they raise the prices! :laughing1

Jeb Bush just stated that they are going to make sure NW Florida has gas because there are so many displaced families here. Escambia County is out of gas, but that is because their use doubled with so many people traveling through.

Regular gas in Michigan is about $3.39 now. No lines at pumps, but prices high.

PLEASE - do not fall for the WSB radio hysteria. Atlanta has plenty of gas - or would have if the folks hadn't paniced yesterday. The pipelines are operating now (at less than full capacity but operating). But the rest of the story - as a famous radion personality says - Atlanta / GA actually gets a lot of their gas from the port of Savannah and other sources.

It's all about psychology.

Well, I finally ran low on gas and just filled up at the Tom Thumb in Seagrove. I was not going to look at the price, but I could not help but to look. Regular gas is $2.59 9/10 per gal. Woo-hoo! Also, they had 18pks of rice beer(coors light) for $4.99 -- that is cheaper than bottled water. I had to get some. I think it is a NFL promotion. I also heard of Bud and Miller running similar promos at various local locations.

The pump I was on was out of the mid-grade. I would guess that all pumps run out of the same tanks.

For you diesel owners, I understand from several people, that they cannot find diesel. Reports are there is none in Lower Alabama area north of here either.

Are you saying I should rethink my CDI?

BTW I saw a gas tanker truck at Tom Thumb this PM.

Are you saying I should rethink my CDI?

BTW I saw a gas tanker truck at Tom Thumb this PM.

I am not saying that. However, I know diesel is much more difficult to find. If you are serious about buying a diesel , I highly recommend doing a personal experiment to see if you really want a diesel. For the next month, every time you need gasoline, try to find a station that has diesel and fill up there. (Do not put diesel in your gasoline engine's tank. :nono1: ) You may be surprised at how difficult it can be to find diesel.

I am not saying that. However, I know diesel is much more difficult to find. If you are serious about buying a diesel , I highly recommend doing a personal experiment to see if you really want a diesel. For the next month, every time you need gasoline, try to find a station that has diesel and fill up there. (Do not put diesel in your gasoline engine's tank. :nono1: ) You may be surprised at how difficult it can be to find diesel.

Very true, since I am considering it myself I have been looking. More than I expected. I can't speak for SoWal though. One other thing... Bad news when you run a diesel out of fuel :nono1: Not a quick fix :!:

http://visitflorida.com/experience/tours/city/

Travel on a Tankful

Special Post-Katrina Announcement
State officials are encouraging residents and visitors to use energy and fuel supply conservatively. Concerns about fuel supply are short term due to interruption in gulf coast refineries' output from hurricane Katrina.

According to AAA South Coummunications Director Randy Bly, "Yes, Roads are open. Gas is available but there are spot outages in a few areas."

"If travelers are driving on holiday this weekend, once their fuel gauge gets to the halfway point, they should begin to look for the next gas station to refuel. That should give them plenty of time to locate gas. There may be spot outages of gasoline in the state temporarily. And diesel fuel supply is low. Spot gasoline outages are being reported in Ocala, Southeast Miami and in extreme Northwest Florida. Although there is ample gas supply available, diesel supply throughout the state is low. Pensacola and Gulf Breeze, especially along the coast are very low on gas. Areas to the east have ample supply. "

A gas station normally requests fuel supply and receives it within 24 hours. Due to barge delivery delays in Mississippi and Alabama, deliveries are being made by trucks and will take from 36 to 48 hours instead of 24. Supply is available, the delivery of it has slowed in some cases, and rumors have created panic-buying. That is why there are spot outages.

"Rumors that are not true include that it will take a week to get supply to gas stations. A rumor in Atlanta that gas stations would close after they ran out created panic-buying and long lines and depleted supply temporarily and caused price gouging."

AAA South receives their fuel information from their emergency operations and road assistance centers throughout the states of Florida, Alabama, Lousiana and Mississippi. Visit www.AAASouth.com for updates on fuel situation in Florida.

I am not saying that. However, I know diesel is much more difficult to find. If you are serious about buying a diesel , I highly recommend doing a personal experiment to see if you really want a diesel. For the next month, every time you need gasoline, try to find a station that has diesel and fill up there. (Do not put diesel in your gasoline engine's tank. :nono1: ) You may be surprised at how difficult it can be to find diesel.

I bought a new Mercedes E300D in 1994. Have had it for 11 years. 200,000 miles later I have NEVER had a problem getting diesel. I have driven it from Florida to Canada; from California to New York. Of course it makes a difference when you can go 800 miles on a tank. What an amazing car.

?It?s been a rough week,? said Lucky, the manager of the Express Lane in Santa Rosa Beach, ?but we?ll make it.?
?We were out Friday for 30 minutes,? he said. ?As far as we know, we will continue to get gas.?
Lucky talks with his deliveryman every night and there has been no indication of shortages.
?We buy our gas ahead of time and ours is sitting in a holding tank,? he said.
In Tallahassee, Cragin Mosteller, Florida Department of Environmental Protection Press Office director, said fuel supplies remained steady with 172.6 millions of gallons of fuel Florida?s ports.
There?s 4.7 million gallons of fuel available at ports that service the panhandle, Mosteller said.
The difficulty comes in getting it from the port to the distributors.
?The port is open to trucks, but not ships,? she said.
That means getting additional supplies could be delayed.
Panhandle residents could experience spot shortages or long lines at retail outlets, she said. DEP encouraged residents to continue to use fuel supplies prudently while the petroleum industry assessed impacts to offshore rigs, refineries and supply terminals in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama.
Not only is there a chance that drivers will have to wait in line, they will also be paying more.
Making a rough estimate, Lucky expected regular unleaded to approach $2.80 to $3, with premium at $3 to $3.50.
?But we are taking a wait-and-see attitude,? he said as to any increase at his station.
On an average day, consumers in Florida use approximately 23 million gallons of gasoline. In an average month, fuel suppliers distribute 750 million gallons in Florida.

I bought a new Mercedes E300D in 1994. Have had it for 11 years. 200,000 miles later I have NEVER had a problem getting diesel. I have driven it from Florida to Canada; from California to New York. Of course it makes a difference when you can go 800 miles on a tank. What an amazing car.

My brother has a big diesel Chevy 2500 4 door pick up truck, and he gets better gas mileage than a Subaru Outback, which requires super premium gas.

What is current status of gas availability in South Walton today please??
Is there any reliable info on this via local media down there??
We plan to head down Saturday but now are not so sure. Friends at Sandestin tell us they had very hard time getting gas last night.
Thanks!!

Gas just down the road from me here in N. Atl was 3.19 for regular yesterday. I paid 2.69 the morning of the media induced panic and 2.45 Monday (the day of the storm).

One idiot was charging SEVEN to EIGHT dollars per gallon. People were paying it because they thought they might not get any anywhere else. His response to news media was that 'no one was coming in the store to buy lottery or groceries and he had to make money somehow.' He later reduced the price. Others around him were charging $4.00 to $4.99.

Sounds like regular Labor Day price increases. It went up 20 cents here in central alabama yesterday.

According to whispers of the station owners I talked to, gas will be back to normal approx 1 week after labor day, after they make their normal labor day profit. They can't do anything other than what they have always done (raise for the holiday) so they don't want to get in trouble with their gas supplier on one hand and the government (which they have convinced over the years that they have to raise prices on travel holidays to cover the 'refining shortfall' vs consumption increase). My grandmother said, "Awww. They been raising gas prices on labor day since the first station opened." Smart little old lady, I'd say.

Also heard from others that they're shifting the port of new orleans action to jacksonville, savanna and newport (virginia), so we can probably assume the reports are true that nola is a dead town.

Be safe

What is current status of gas availability in South Walton today please??
Is there any reliable info on this via local media down there??
We plan to head down Saturday but now are not so sure. Friends at Sandestin tell us they had very hard time getting gas last night.
Thanks!!

PK305,
To answer your question, as of this morning there was gas at the Tom Thumb on 30-A in Seagrove. As of yesterday there was gas available in Panama City. I have not checked on Freeport or Sandestin since Tuesday, but there was gas then. However, convenience store owners in Freeport and Tallahassee said a couple of days ago they had been told not to expect deliveries until Saturday or Sunday.

Given the artificially low prices (that's right--artificially low) expect that when the gas does arrive we will see lines of cars topping off tanks and gas cans so that supplies will go back to being low until the next delivery.

Gas just down the road from me here in N. Atl was 3.19 for regular yesterday. I paid 2.69 the morning of the media induced panic and 2.45 Monday (the day of the storm).

One idiot was charging SEVEN to EIGHT dollars per gallon. People were paying it because they thought they might not get any anywhere else. His response to news media was that 'no one was coming in the store to buy lottery or groceries and he had to make money somehow.' He later reduced the price. Others around him were charging $4.00 to $4.99.

Some jerk tried this in the Nooga. :nono1: Toooooo small a town. It hit the news and the reporters were on site. All of a sudden this guy couldn't speak english. Ironically nobody and I mean nobody is buying gas from his store.

Gov. Perdue (GA) just issued serious fines for the gas gougers. $5000 per offense, and they consider an offense to be "a tank of gas sold." Yes! Also, until the end of Sept, he's suspeneding 15c/gallon gas tax, which will provide some relief.

SlowMovin
Thanks for your excellent response. Helps tremendously!