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Its been interesting in the Asheville, NC area the last few days. Almost all of the gas stations are completely out of gas with hours long lines and occasional fisticuffs occuring at the few stations that actually have gas. Some people have taken to following tanker trucks to their destinations in search of a gas station that can live up to its name. At work, some employees aren't going to be able to make it to work tomorrow if they can't find any gas on their way home this evening and some local parcel delivery companies have stopped daily deliveries. Meanwhile, out of the roads there are still vast numbers of Homo non-sapiens driving at 65-75mph and doing the accelerator/brake light tango. Its not a case of reasoning that my time is worth more than the savings in gas achieved by driving slower, but is rather a case of IF they are going to find any more gas once they burn through their current tank. Makes me wonder if the scientific name "Homo sapiens" is appropriate.

That has got to SUCK!

I'd be looking into a locking gas cap I think.

Is ALL of NC being affected by this? Crap on a stick... I may not go in for the rest of the week if that's the case :(.

what is the cause of all the shortages?

Panic buying. People get it into their heads that no more gas is around, fill up, then run all over town telling their friends to fill up because there's no gas. Pretty soon there IS no gas!

Columbia, SC is experiencing minor shortages. Still a fair number of stations with bags over the pumps. And it's expensive where you can get it.

You'll take my locking gas cap and ScanGauge from my cold, dead hands.

I wonder how many people actually know you save gas by driving slower? Probably most people know that, but also they don't know how much they save since they don't even bother to keep track of their gas mileage anyway.

It's like fat people that don't know why they're fat. It's either from eating too much food, or eating too many fatty foods, but at least with this example they can visually see what happens from their bad habit.

[QUOTE=bomber991;150507]I wonder how many people actually know you save gas by driving slower? Probably most people know that, but also they don't know how much they save since they don't even bother to keep track of their gas mileage anyway.

I have to agree with that statement. It would really help if every vehicle showed mpg.

I have noticed that in southeastern PA, vehicles are going as fast on the roads as they have for many years. On occasion I see someone driving slower, but that is rare. I do see some trucks that are going slower on the highway. Most drivers are in a hurry driving over the speed limit from point A to point B. We as a nation just don't get it. Will we ever change? Old habits are difficult to change.

I'm now living in the Asheville area and after running down to less than 1/8th of a tank went out to fill up last night and luckily found an Exxon where a tanker was refuelling the station. My full tank will last at least another two weeks.

It was all very civilized except for a couple in a car who just wanted to go to the gas station store but were extremely rude to people (including myself) who were trying to tell them to go ahead and pull into the gas station and not to mind the queue!

While there is panic buying going on, for sure, I don't think that can account for the majority of gas stations in the area being out of gas at any one time for more than a week.

I have not seen any North Raleigh area stations closed or any lines at all. I couldn’t say if pumps are still covered as I don’t visit the pumps near as much as I used to. Last Friday my station did have mid grade and hi test pumps covered but regular available. Regular is $3.95 to $3.99 with $3.99 being the standard price.

Here in Charleston, SC, I noticed that several of the local BP stations have bags covering the low and middle grade pumps. There aren't any big lines at any stations that I've noticed anywhere (except right before Gustav and Ike). I really do think there is a genuine shortage in the South East and this isn't all just irrational buying. Regular is going for $3.78/gal according to AAA.

I it seems there is a pipeline that runs from Texas into the SE and that's the issue. http://www.peakoil.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=42892

It was interesting comparing the gas shortage/gas lines in the Asheville/Hendersonville area to the relatively plentiful gas situation in the Greenville/Greenwood, SC area, where there were a few small mom and pop stations that were empty and an occasional station that was out of a grade of gas, but with no gas lines anywhere. The closer you got the Colonial Pipeline, the better the gas situation was. A tanker truck can make more re-supply runs each day from the pipeline depot to re-fill stations in Greenville (30 min away) than to Asheville (2 hours away).

The run on gas in the Asheville area started after a local TV news ran a blurb on how the local gas stations were about to run out of gas, which triggered massive panic buying, so they quickly did all ran out of gas. One of those self-fulfilling prophecies.

I am in the Charlotte, NC area and they are reporting that 1 in 5 stations has gas. The reason for the shortage is because of the refineries being shut down prior to and after Ike. They claim that the pipeline from Houston is only running at about 40% capacity and that it takes the gas about 8 days to get here from the time it is placed in the pipeline. I filled up I think it was the day that Ike hit and then had to fill up again this past Saturday. I got lucky both times being able to get gas at my regular Texaco station. The first time I had to buy premium for $3.879 which was a bargain (ha ha) because everyone else was selling regular for about $3.999-$4.299 and when I filled up Saturday they were selling regular for $3.799 while everyone else in the area that had gas was selling it for $3.999 per gallon. The local news just reported that the pipeline was starting to run at full capacity again and that everything should be back to normal by about the end of next week. I guess that is because of the 8 day delay in the gas getting here. The reason for the shortage isn't because of the fear of no gas as much as it is the pipeline capacity. Yes there are long lines almost everywhere that has gas, but what can you expect when you're trying to run 100% of the cars on 40% of the gas? As a normal rule I fill my tank when it is less than 1/2 empty, but this last time I was down to about 1/4 tank for two reasons (1) I didn't want to sit in the long lines and (2) I was hoping deliveries would start to return to normal and prices would drop before I needed any.

It would also help if people would drive more fuel efficiently. But, alas, most people are idiots. Reminds me of when I was in Wisconsin; whenever there was a snow-storm and I had to get on the road, inevitably there's always some moron travelling too fast for the road conditions passing me. Sure enough, several miles down the road, there's said moron on the embankment.

I belive the flow went back to full force on Monday & it was expected to take 2 days to arrive at the other end. So sometime yesterday, full supplies should have been available, now they just have to get tanked around to the final destinations in sufficient quanaties.

I belive the flow went back to full force on Monday & it was expected to take 2 days to arrive at the other end. So sometime yesterday, full supplies should have been available, now they just have to get tanked around to the final destinations in sufficient quanaties.

I'm not sure when it went back to full capacity, but thy just said on the news that the gas would travel at the rate of about 100 miles per day. If that's the case it will take closer to two weeks to get to Charlotte. We are now getting gas tanked in from the mid west. There's also been 3 tankers of gas with about 9000 gallons on board each turn over within 50 miles of Charlotte in the last 3 days. I have also noticed that most people are not turning their engines off while waiting in gas lines sometimes sitting there for 1 hour or more. DUMB!!!!

...I have also noticed that most people are not turning their engines off while waiting in gas lines sometimes sitting there for 1 hour or more. DUMB!!!!
I agree Ford Man, and I would be killing my engine too; but--my Scangauge indicates ~0.26 gph while idling warm, so the waste may not be as bad as our gut makes it seem...still, a quart of gas is about a dollar!

I agree Ford Man, and I would be killing my engine too; but--my Scangauge indicates ~0.26 gph while idling warm, so the waste may not be as bad as our gut makes it seem...still, a quart of gas is about a dollar!

That may not seem like much individually, but multiply that by how many cars there are in line and it really adds up.