Summer travel plans for millions of Americans could be thrown into chaos by gas shortages

Travel plans for millions of Americans ready to hit the road for the summer could be interrupted by gas shortages due to the lack of tank truck drivers needed to transport fuel to gas stations.

Some states have already reported outages, including Florida, Arizona, Missouri and Nevada. Florida’s shortages were reported during Spring Break when thousands of revelers descended on the state. 

In Las Vegas, Chevron employees left notes on the pumps saying the company is experiencing supply shortages in Clark County. 

Ryan Streblow, the executive vice president of the National Tank Truck Carriers, told CNN that between 20 per cent to 25 per cent of tank trucks have been parked because there aren’t enough qualified drivers as the summer nears.  

Travel plans for millions of Americans ready to hit the road for the summer could be interrupted by gas shortages due to the lack of tank truck drivers needed to transport fuel to gas stations

That compares to around 10 per cent of trucks sitting idle around this time in 2019. 

‘We’ve been dealing with a driver shortage for a while, but the pandemic took that issue and metastasized it,’ Streblow said.

The problem, like many current issues with travel, is that the pandemic forced a lot of truck drivers out of the business last year where the demand for gasoline came to a near halt amid shutdowns. 

And while companies are hiring for truck drivers, there are certain certifications needed to drive a tank truck, including a commercial driver’s license and several weeks of training after being hired.

Holly McCormick, the vice president in charge of driver recruitment and retention at Groendyke Transport in Oklahoma, told CNN that her company’s drivers were ‘hauling boxes for Amazon just to keep our drivers busy’.

She said it has been difficult to get drivers to do the safety protocols and some took it as a sign they should retire.  

McCormick also said that the pandemic also shut down many of the training programs that would have produced new drivers. 

Between 40,000 to 60,000 drivers were disqualified from working as tank drivers after the new federal clearinghouse went into effect in January 2020. 

And the lack of truck drivers doesn’t just cause a gas shortage; it also causes hardship for those convenience stores connected to gas stations

The clearinghouse is used to identify individuals with prior drug or alcohol violations. 

And the lack of truck drivers doesn’t just cause a gas shortage; it also causes hardship for those convenience stores connected to gas stations. 

Jeff Lenard, spokesman at the National Association of Convenience Stores, told CNN that this is concerning because the demand for gas is back up to 97 per cent, where it was this time in 2019.

Lenard said if gas stations are short on gas then convenience stores ‘have no business’.

‘People aren’t going to stop in for a sandwich if you don’t have fuel,’ he added.  

Meanwhile, gasoline prices have surged. Americans are paying 14 per cent more for a gallon of regular than they did in February, and 29 per cent more than a year ago, according to AAA.

That spike has been caused in part by Texas storms that knocked out power to millions of residents and took several oil refineries offline. 

The price of gasoline has also been boosted by oil prices that have risen along with expectations of economic recovery as coronavirus vaccines are distributed.