Fuel Prices Spike Nationwide as Gas Stations Run Low

     A surging demand for gas and a shortage of fuel tank truck drivers have caused gas stations across the country to run low on fuel, which at $3.09 per gallon, is the highest price Americans have paid for unleaded gas since 2014, says the American Automobile Association (AAA).

     Current gas prices stand in stark contrast to the numbers at the pump at this time last year, when the COVID pandemic was still in full force and few Americans were venturing out for long drives.

     “Today, 89% of US gas stations are selling regular unleaded for $2.75 or more,” said Jeanette McGee, a AAA spokesperson. “That is a stark increase over last July 4 when only a quarter of stations were selling gas for more than $2.25.”

     Now that New York is back and more than 40 million Americans, the AAA estimates, are planning to hit the road to celebrate the three-day Fourth of July weekend, gas prices at the will likely continue to rise through the end of the summer, McGee said.

     Road-trippers who plan to drive to the Pacific Northwest, Northern California, Colorado, Iowa, Indianapolis, Ind., and Columbus, Ohio, are among the locations where gas stations are experiencing shortages or dangerously low supplies.

     The gas shortages, which appear to be growing nationwide, are caused not just by increased demand for fuel, but by delayed gas shipments, which is due to a nationwide shortage of tank truck drivers, who require special qualifications to transport fuel across the country.

     “What I’m worried about for July is the increased demand works out to about 2,500 to 3,000 more deliveries needed every day,” Tom Kloza, global head of energy analysis for the Oil Price Information Service, which tracks prices for AAA. There just aren’t the drivers to do that.”