GREENSBORO, N.C. — There's a rush to deliver fuel to gas stations across North Carolina as fast as possible as Colonial Pipeline's system restarts operation. Colonial's 5500 miles of the pipeline was shut down for 6 days after Russia-linked hackers targeted it with ransomware.
Several tankers were seen lined up at a tank farm on Gallimore Dairy Road in Greensboro where many were loading up and shipping out fuel to gas stations. A number of the drivers had to wait longer than normal to load up but were committed to slowly make the deliveries.
"I just go down there find a load and bring it to the stores and the people come to get it," said Keith Hylton, fuel delivery driver for Davenport Energy.
Delivery drivers tried to keep up as panic-buying drove up demand and squeezed supply.
On Wednesday morning, GasBuddy reported 25% of North Carolina gas stations were out of fuel. However, by the end of the workday, that number had risen to nearly 70%.
For gas stations that had fuel supply, lines formed and some had to regulate the amount of gas purchased. Stations with tankers in their lot drew some drivers in to fuel up.
"I see some across the road who left a line over there and came over here when I pulled in," Hylton said.
The shortage and fuel scramble are driving up gas prices and also affecting food delivery drivers.
"I use probably a tank of gas every two or three days so I am topping it off to make sure I have enough to last a couple of days," said Mike Doyle, a Door Dash driver.
AAA of the Carolina urged folks to stay calm, plan ahead and research if they have a long-distance trip planned for this weekend.
"Know the areas along your route that you might be traveling if you're able to call ahead to gas stations to see if they have gas, and make sure you fill up before you leave," said Tiffany Wright, a spokesperson for AAA of the Carolinas.
"We do know that gas stations are receiving supply and they will continue to receive the supply into the night and that state of emergency really does help us," Wright said.
Colonial Pipeline said it would take some days for the supply chain to return to normal.