A scarcity of truck drivers is causing fuel delivery difficulties at some gas stations, according to Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy, who told CNBC on Wednesday. “This is a labor-intensive task. On “Power Lunch,” De Haan explained that refineries are “generating nearly all-time highs in terms of gallons of gasoline this summer.”” “The issue is getting that fuel from a local facility to the gas station on the last leg of its journey, and we’re starting to see some of these delivery delays,” he said. According to local media accounts, gas stations in southwest Missouri, Columbus, Ohio, and eastern Iowa have experienced temporary shortages. The trucking sector, according to National Tank Truck Carriers, is short at least 50,000 drivers. De Haan said it’s been a “brewing problem” since 2017, which was exacerbated by the Covid epidemic, which caused a drop in fuel demand. According to De Haan, some employers let their truck drivers go, while others retired early. Gas station chains are now providing sign-on bonuses to potential drivers ranging from $5,000 to $15,000, he claimed. The present fuel distribution issues, according to De Haan, are distinct from the Colonial Pipeline outage last month, which resulted in a spike in pump prices and some stations running out of fuel in Southeastern states such as Georgia and North Carolina. In this case, De Haan claims that fuel delivery days based on trucking capacity will have no “significant” impact on gasoline prices. Oil production levels, as well as “essentially every other part of this rebounding economy,” he said, are driving up prices. According to AAA, the national average price for a standard gallon of gas is $3.118 ahead of the Fourth of July weekend, when tens of millions of Americans are scheduled to travel. The price has increased from $3.045 a gallon a month ago. According to AAA, it was $2.178 a gallon a year ago, when travel was still severely restricted owing to Covid restrictions. Smaller gas station proprietors, according to De Haan, may find it more challenging to manage the current trucking scenario than larger chains. “It’s kind of a survival of the fittest situation,” De Haan said. “Those truckers that deliver for third parties may find it more profitable to go somewhere else and supply fuel, so there’s kind of this fighting going on with the truck drivers who do exist.” “Everyone is being duped, and regrettably, if the country’s gasoline demand continues to climb, this will become more difficult in the future.”/nRead More