DOTHAN, Ala. – Alabama travel industry observers are waiting to see how long the current shutdown of an East Coast pipeline will be. The length of time the Colonial pipeline is out of commission could determine whether there are gas shortages and price hikes. The Alabama Triple-A is watching another possible issue. That’s a potential shortage of gas trucks drivers. Triple-A spokesman Clay Ingram says COVID-19 cost some drivers their jobs and rehiring these workers may be difficult.
“You can’t just be a regular eighteen wheeler driver,” said Ingram. “You have to have multiple certifications that are difficult to obtain to be tanker truck driver. So, that industry is having difficulty getting those driver back.”
The Colonial Pipeline supplies almost half of the fuel uses along the eastern U.S. However, a potential lack of drivers could mean occasional shortages at the gas pump, but nothing critical. Ingram says the trucker issue is no reason to panic because gas supply is not the problem.
“There is no gasoline shortage. Period. Plain and simple. Our gasoline supplies are at some of the highest levels we ever had here in the U.S. The issue is transporting that gasoline to the hubs and gas stations out there.”
The demand for gas in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, and Tennessee reportedly went up four percent over the weekend. The website GasBuddy.com recently reported prices going up by twelve cents in the last week.
