WTOC, Savannah, Georgia, news, weather and sports | Tanker drivers feeling pain at the pump
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Tanker trucks line Lathrop Avenue waiting for gas.SAVANNAH, GA (WTOC) - Hurricane Ike sent gas prices soaring last week. Now, they're finally starting to come down, but the pain at the pump isn't over.
Car and truck drivers aren't the only ones with headaches after Ike. Tanker truck drivers like those behind the wheels of the dozens of big rigs that line Lathrop Avenue, have their own gas troubles.
"It's aggravating to everybody," said Kenneth Gilbert, a tanker driver from Baxley. "You usually come in here and pull up right in line and load. Now, you've got an hour and a half or two or three hour waits."
After Hurricane Ike shut down production on the pipeline, more gas stations sent trucks to get fuel from port cities like Savannah. That created long lines for tanker drivers trying to bring that gas back to their towns.
"A lot of people are from Macon, Atlanta and Jacksonville," explained Mike Lawton, a tanker driver from Savannah. "A lot of people are on the pipeline and they're out of gas, so they come here."
"We saw it this bad when the last hurricane went through Alabama," added Gilbert. "Because everybody was coming from everywhere else."
Right now, gas companies are only allowed to buy so much fuel a day, which is only increasing demand.
"You see a lot of gas stations out and as soon as you drop your gas, it'll be gone within that day or two days," said Lawton. "They'll be right back out of gas."
As the Gulf's oil refineries go back into production that should improve. The wholesale price of gas is dropping and we're starting to see those numbers reflected at the gas pumps.
At one Shell gas station in west Chatham County, gas was selling for $4.05 a gallon this afternoon. That's down 24 cents a gallon since just this morning. Those falling prices are welcome news for drivers like Clint Rushing of Statesboro.
"Anytime the price comes down, it is fine," he said. "You still have to have gas, either way."
Gas distributors said expect prices to drop even lower. But in some places, like Texas where Ike hit and demand for gas is high, drivers will likely see higher prices and shortages.
