Millions of people stuck at home for more than a year are expected to hit the road for much-needed post-pandemic vacations this summer. Good luck finding gas.
Not that there’s a looming shortage of crude oil or gasoline. Rather, it’s the tanker truck drivers needed to deliver the gas to stations who are in short supply.
According to the National Tank Truck Carriers, the industry’s trade group, somewhere between 20% to 25% of tank trucks in the fleet are parked heading into this summer due to a paucity of qualified drivers. At this point in 2019, only 10% of trucks were sitting idle for that reason.
“We’ve been dealing with a driver shortage for a while, but the pandemic took that issue and metastasized it,” said Ryan Streblow, the executive vice president of the NTTC. “It certainly has grown exponentially.”…
Not just any truck driver is allowed to drive a tanker truck. It requires special certification, including a commercial driver’s license, and weeks of training after being hired. And while the jobs are more attractive than some long-haul trucking jobs that can keep drivers away from home for days or weeks at a time, it is strenuous, difficult work.
Holly McCormick, who runs the workforce committee for NTTC, said another problem was the shutdown of many driver schools early in the pandemic. The pipeline of new drivers those schools would have produced has yet to be filled, she said. And then there’s a new federal clearinghouse that went online in January 2020 to identify truck drivers with prior drug or alcohol violations or failed drug tests, which knocked about 40,000 to 60,000 total drivers out of the national employment pool.
Oops!
Eideard 
“Recalling the suburban gas riots of 1979” (Philadelphia Inquirer May 29, 2008) https://www.inquirer.com/philly/news/homepage/20080529_Racalling_the_suburban_gas_riots_of_1979.html
“Twenty-nine years ago, service-station owner Steven Lankin watched as a summer-night Levittown crowd seething over gas rationing, two-hour lines at the pumps, and a then-stunning hike to $1 a gallon turn violent.
What began as a truckers’ gas-crisis protest lasted two nights, June 23 and 24, 1979. It drew thousands of people and left 100 people injured, nearly 200 arrested, and one Shell station shattered in the first gasoline revolt in American history.”
“U.S.’s Biggest Gasoline Pipeline Halted After Cyber-Attack” (5/8/21) https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-05-08/u-s-s-biggest-gasoline-and-pipeline-halted-after-cyberattack
“Colonial’s network supplies fuel from U.S refiners on the Gulf Coast to the populous eastern and southern United States. The company transports 2.5 million barrels per day of gasoline, diesel, jet fuel and other refined products through 5,500 miles (8,850 km) of pipelines.
Colonial Pipeline says it transports 45% of East Coast fuel supply.
Longer-term price effects will depend on the amount of time that the lines are shut. If barrels are not able to make it onto the lines, Gulf Coast prices could weaken further, while prices in New York Harbor could rise, one market participant said.
Colonial significantly shut down its gasoline and distillate lines during Hurricane Harvey, which hit the Gulf Coast in 2017.
During that time, spot Gulf Coast gasoline prices rose to a five-year high, while diesel prices rose to around a four-year high.” https://www.reuters.com/technology/colonial-pipeline-halts-all-pipeline-operations-after-cybersecurity-attack-2021-05-08/
A major U.S. pipeline is still mostly shut due to a cyberattack. Here’s what you need to know (CNBC) https://www.cnbc.com/2021/05/10/largest-us-fuel-pipeline-colonial-still-mostly-shut-impact-and-reopening.html
U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Motor Carrier Administration Issues Temporary Hours of Service Exemption in Response to the Unanticipated Shutdown of the Colonial Pipeline https://www.transportation.gov/briefing-room/us-department-transportations-federal-motor-carrier-administration-issues-temporary
“US fuel pipeline ‘paid hackers $5m in ransom'” https://www.bbc.com/news/business-57112371
“The DarkSide ransomware affiliate program responsible for the six-day outage at Colonial Pipeline this week that led to fuel shortages and price spikes across the country is running for the hills. The crime gang announced it was closing up shop after its servers were seized and someone drained the cryptocurrency from an account the group uses to pay affiliates.” https://krebsonsecurity.com/2021/05/darkside-ransomware-gang-quits-after-servers-bitcoin-stash-seized/
8AM MDT, tomorrow morning, 15th
(UK) The Army is ready to help ease fuel supply problems after a fourth day of long queues and pump closures.
Up to 150 military tanker drivers will prepare to deliver to forecourts which have run dry because of panic buying.
The surge in demand came amid fears a driver shortage would hit fuel supply – which is plentiful at refineries.
The UK is estimated to be short of more than 100,000 lorry drivers – causing problems for a range of industries, including food suppliers and supermarkets, in recent months. https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-58713770
There are more than 800,000 Sikhs in the United States, a little more than 2% of the population. But of those, as many as 270,000 are either directly involved in trucking or involved in the many supporting service industries that help keep those behind the wheel moving. Prior to the pandemic, nearly 6% of all full-time jobs in America were in the trucking industry, according to the app Trucker Path. More than 40% of those jobs are held by minorities. https://religionnews.com/2021/07/16/sikh-americans-increasingly-are-an-important-part-of-the-american-trucking-industry/
When more and more Americans expect globally produced goods to be available on their doorstep within days, if not hours, there is a growing demand for drivers. Some project the trucking industry will need to add 900,000 new drivers by 2027. https://www.freightwaves.com/news/truck-driver-shortage-may-reach-900000-by-2027