Experiencing two major hurricanes in a two-week span has greatly impacted numerous industries – fuel and trucking included.
After Hurricane Helene, it was more of “wait and see” in terms of just how fuel prices might be affected. Now that Hurricane Milton has made landfall as a Category 3 storm just 14 days later, many concerns about what could happen to the fuel market are becoming reality.
In the days before Milton reached Florida’s west coast, reports began to surface of potential fuel shortages.
ProMiles, a software development corporation monitoring the fuel market daily, confirmed these shortages with Land Line via email and explained just how serious the current situation is across the southeastern United States.
“So many locations have (run) out of fuel and many have contaminated fuel due to flood water entering the tanks,” said Tony Stroncheck, the founder and co-president of ProMiles. “With so many people going to help with cleanup, fuel demand is higher than normal. There is even a large shortage of gas cans. People are using water jugs as a way to get fuel to the repair folks and for families to run their generators.”
ProMiles estimated on Wednesday, Oct. 9 that nearly 1,500 Florida fueling locations had run out of fuel. Compounding the issue is the amount of fuel needed for recovery efforts, for evacuations and generators or for other life-saving equipment and panic-buying.
Fuel prices are updated daily on this Land Line resources page.
“This has been a never-ending storm of chaos,” Stroncheck said. “I am so proud to be part of the trucking industry, knowing the front-line folks, the truckers, are not stopping what they do best. Moving all needed freight and goods desperately needed by local companies and families, along with helping out the locals by stopping and giving a helping hand.”
Trucking outlook
According to its spot market data for Sept. 29 through Friday, Oct. 4, DAT said spot loads decreased by 15% and truck posts were down some 16%.
In DAT’s Southeast region, inbound and outbound rates increased by an average of 10 cents per mile compared to the previous week, while the Atlanta market’s average linehaul van rate was up 7 cents per mile despite a 3% decrease in load volume.
Storm cleanup has also led to a higher demand for flatbed capacity, DAT said.
“The minimum expectation for Hurricane Milton is that a large portion of Florida will be without power,” said Aaron Galer, senior vice president of partnerships at Arrive Logistics. “Several of our shipping partners are looking at potential worst-case scenarios and will dial back operations/plans based on what happens.” LL
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