JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — You may see pumps near you with signs letting you know they are out of gas.
But the AAA’s Mark Jenkins said these local fuel outages have more to do with people “panic buying” than it does with the Colonial Pipeline outage.
“Remain calm, Florida has plenty of access to gasoline. We are not reliant on the Colonial Pipeline for our fuel,” said Jenkins.
Places like Panama City and Tallahassee do get supply from the pipeline, but the rest of the state’s gasoline arrives by sea.
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“Ninety percent of gasoline here in Florida sails in on a cargo ship through our ports,” said Jenkins.
But that’s not stopping people from feeling the urge to top of their tanks.
There was a long, winding line at the BJ’s on Kernan Boulevard where we spoke to customers.
“I’m at half a tank so I’m just getting gas when I’m out,” said Bob Buchanan.
Granted some of the pumps were down because of construction, but news of the pipeline is also a driving factor.
“Did you see the news about the pipeline?” asked Lorena Inclán.
“Yeah, last night,” said driver Meera.
“Is that why you’re here?” asked Inclán.
“Yes,” said Meera.
Jenkins said this sudden run-up on demand is causing a distribution issue.
“All that does is create a supply problem if it makes it more challenging for truck drivers to transport the gasoline to every single gas station that has since run out of gasoline,” said Jenkins.
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Here’s the silver lining: since the pipeline outage, AAA said gas prices here in Florida have not seen big spikes.
The state average is $2.89, that’s two cents more than last week and three cents less than last year’s highest price.
The best advice from AAA is, don’t make matters worse by hoarding gasoline, just continue your normal fueling routines.