Roger W. Gilroy |
The U.S. average retail price of diesel rose 4.4 cents to $2.802 a gallon on the heels of Hurricane Irma slamming into Florida on Sept. 10 and disrupting fuel supplies there.
Diesel costs 40.3 cents more than it did a year ago, when it was $2.399 a gallon, the Department of Energy reported Sept.11.
Prices for trucking’s main fuel climbed in all regions.
West Texas Intermediate crude futures on the New York Mercantile Exchange closed at $48.07 on Sept. 11 compared with $48.66 per barrel Sept. 5.
One employee answering the phone at Polk City Truck Stop, in Polk City, Fla., east of Tampa, said Sept. 11 they were open. “But we have no fuel yet. No gasoline or diesel,” he added.
Asked when he expected a delivery, he said, “They didn’t tell us when they were coming.”
Two other Florida truck stops presented a busy signal when called.
At Port of Tampa Bay, “deliveries [of diesel and gasoline] have already resumed by ground. We are waiting for the Coast Guard to open the channel to get incoming petroleum vessels,” Samara Sodos, director of public relations at the port, told Transport Topics. The port is expected to reopen Sept. 12 and three petroleum vessels are expected to bring fuel into the port then.
The port supplies about 45% of the fuel arriving by ship transport to the state of Florida, she said.
Meanwhile, farther south, “Fuel ships were standing by for the port to reopen to ocean-going vessels,” according to a Sept. 11 statement form Port Everglades in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
The port was assessing damage and was set to reopen following approval from the U.S. Coast Guard.
“Fuel deliveries will continue as soon as the petroleum companies at Port Everglades are able to reopen and the roads are safe for truck drivers,” according to the port statement.
Petroleum companies at Port Everglades estimate, based on normal demand, that storm reserves consist of a four-day supply of gasoline, five days of diesel fuel and five days of jet fuel.”
There are 12 privately owned petroleum terminal operators and pipeline companies located at Port Everglades that supply fuel products to 12 counties in South Florida, according to the port.
The port primarily is supplied with diesel, gasoline and jet fuel refined further west on the Gulf Coast and brought to Florida in tankers or sea-going barges.