I had some problems getting diesel while on the road this past Friday:



- 1st attempt - price was $4.19.   Pump was feeding less than 2 gallons a minute (bottom of the tank).   I left after getting about a gallon.

- 2nd attempt - posted price was $4.09.   Pump was actually charging $4.41.   Seemed to have plenty of fuel though.   I caught it after a about 2.5 gallons and left.

- 3rd attempt - price was $4.19.   Pump was feeding less than 2 gallons a minute (bottom of the tank).   I left after getting about a gallon.

- 4th attempt - price was $4.19.....and they actually had fuel.    Filled the tank.



This was over the course of about 90 miles driving through the midwest.   I passed quite a few stations selling at $4.40 or so without stopping.



It seems like fuel was available at $4.40.  But the stations still selling at $4.19 were effectively out.   We seem to have reached the point where a 5% difference in price is really concentrating the demand.



It had been years since I had been mischarged at the pump.   And I can't recall the last time I saw more than 1 station out of fuel due to demand with no apparent supply problems (hurricanes, etc).

I live in N.E. Ohio (Ashtabula Co) and paid 4.09 yesterday (Sat), 3 cents cheaper than the 87 octane.  It's been quite a while since I paid less for diesel than gasoline.  The Circle K on Snow Road in Brookpark (near the airport) has it the cheapest I've seen.  I usually take my 110 gal transfer tank with me when I go to CLE and fill it up and then transfer it to my on-site storage at home before my next trip.  Last year I was paying 2.29/gal when every where else was 2.89/gal.  

The only place I had trouble finding diesel was in Rehoboth Beach, DE on vacation.  I'd suspect that the cheaper priced stations would rapidly sell out, which explains what the OP found.  The OP found a lack of cheap fuel, not a total lack of fuel.  It is aggravating to find the cheap sources sold out..

Ops

I have to agree with Ops.  There was plenty of diesel to buy.....the price was $4.40 per gallon.  No shortage.  No lines.  Power to the pumps.  Credit card system up and operating.  

No problems getting Diesel in the four corners.
Diesel has been holding steadier than gasoline in the last few weeks. Diesel has been at $4.35 for a month now. Gasoline is closing the gap rapidly. Its up to 3.84-3.97 around town.

I suspect regular unleaded will break $4 here at least at most of the stations next week.

I need to buy a barrel of Methanol for more Bio-diesel :) The weather is almost nice enough to run 100% again.

I've noticed this as well.  Luckily, we're still around $4 for diesel.  44 gallon fill ups on the Excursion are getting painful.  No shortage of anything.

I have an app for my android phone called Gasbuddy - I can pull it up and see what all the gas stations in the area are charging and find the cheapest w/o having to go way out of my way.

ORD is $3.45

Wow I was complaining about paying 3.99 the other day.

Same here





 

$4.16 here today ––- gasbuddy just sent me an alert that its going up to $4.29-4.39 within 48 hours.  



(BTW those gasbuddy alerts haven't been wrong yet...)



 

Correct me if I'm wrong, but $4.09 and 'transfer tank' makes me think you paid the tax exempt rate.   In OH, that'd work out to about $4.40 with tax then?



 

4.089 truck stop at greenwood, NE.
Down 0.01 from a few days ago. No problems getting fuel.

Here in middle of NC it is running $4.05-$4.09.

Nope, it was on-road fuel, from Speedway, I will take a quick pic when I run up town to get my plates renewed.  It was still at $4.09 for diesel and $4.15 now for gas this morning.  The local Co-Op that sells non-taxed (Off Road Diesel ) has the B-20 and I am not to keen on running that.

Wow.   Best rates I've seen recently were in IN at $4.19.



 

I'm hoping this price comes down a bit so I can fill a newly acquired 500 gal. tank with a Tuthill electric, metered pump.  



Just an FYI...I was talking with a district manager of Sheetz (a regional gas / convenience store) tonight at my boys baseball practice.  He manages 12 stores in NE Ohio and NW Penn.  He said Sheetz has been able to keep gas at 3.99 and plan on doing just that for the next couple of days.   He said they get their fuel from the Pittsburgh PA area and do not have a supply problem.  Pilot, Speedway and some other stations have been having  a problem with getting fuel because of a problem with the Buckeye pipeline in Ohio.

He said Speedway would rather force customers to other stores with the higher prices than run out of fuel.  Sounds like the supply is going to stay tight for awhile in Ohio and Indiana.