Suzette Cook
Trenton Sunoco station owner Mahesh Patel texted his fuel supplier Monday morning to let him know his inventory is down to 5,000 gallons but got no response.
“People are getting $300 at a time,” said Patel who expects to run out of gas within 24 hours.
“We’re trying our best to get more inventory—they are doing their best too,” he said about the suppliers.
A cyberattack and subsequent shutdown of the Colonial Pipeline, which delivers approximately 45 percent of all fuel to the East Coast, has set off a gasoline grab locally and beyond.
By 11 a.m., the Circle K in Newberry was completely out. All eight pump stations sit empty.
Across the street at the Marathon station, one out of the 10 pumps had been marked as out of service as lines of cars and trucks waiting for their turn to fill up. The manager there said there is no date set yet by a supplier to replenish the inventory.
By 5 p.m. on Monday, there were reports of gas stations on Archer Road running out.
On Tuesday, Facebook was inundated with reports of the lack of gas. One woman posted a photo of the line of vehicles waiting at Sam’s Club in Butler Plaza and stated she was on empty and needed gas to get to work.
On Monday, AAA forecasted that gas prices to climb this week in reaction to the shutdown and would reach $2.99 per gallon or more topping record prices reported back in 2014.
