Fueled by fear: Panic buying spurs long lines, gas shortages at some Frederick stations

May 13—As gas prices continued to rise and panic buying spread across the East Coast on Wednesday, some Frederick County stations saw long lines, fuel shortages and even empty pumps.

The disruption is largely attributed to a ransomware attack last week on the Colonial Pipeline, which runs from Houston to New York City and accounts for 45 percent of all fuel utilized on the East Coast. But the anxiety stemming from the attack — rather than the incident itself — was more to blame for the perceived shortages, experts said.

"There's really no shortage of gas in the U.S.," said Ragina Ali, a spokeswoman for AAA Mid-Atlantic. "What we are seeing in some areas are people basically panic buying."

Around 5 p.m. Wednesday, Colonial Pipeline operators announced it would begin to resume operations.

Still, so many customers flocking to gas stations all at once drove down supply and sent demand skyrocketing, Ali said. As of 3 p.m., 13 percent of stations across Maryland were dry, according to GasBuddy.

At Costco in Frederick, employees in neon vests were directing traffic as lines of customers waited to fill up their tanks. Signs in all capital letters taped to each pump announced drivers were limited to "two legally approved portable containers" of gas per transaction — this after images of customers filling plastic bags and other makeshift containers with gasoline circulated on social media Wednesday.

John Kuszewski of Damascus said he was "pleasantly surprised" it only took him about three minutes to reach the pump at Costco. He would have needed gas soon anyway, he said, but chose to fill up a day or two early after hearing reports of shortages.

At Sheetz on Md. 85, sales associate Mariah Flynn said fuel supplies had run low but hadn't dried up entirely as of 3:30 p.m.

Exxon stations on Opossumtown Pike in Frederick and Old National Pike in Middletown, meanwhile, ran out of two of their three types of fuel. At the Middletown station, employee Stephanie Riley said pumps were out of regular and premium gasoline by mid-afternoon. She expected them to be refilled around 6 p.m., she said.

Frank Reluzzo, manager of the Frederick station, said he saw "lines like crazy" throughout the day. His store ran out of regular and premium gas at about 3:15 p.m. and had only diesel left. He didn't know when he'd be able to get a refill.

Usually, Reluzzo said, station employees would call their suppliers and let them know when the store was running low. But on Wednesday, Reluzzo's team was told just to hang tight: Suppliers were already aware of the outages popping up, he said, and would deliver fuel as soon as they could.

A nationwide shortage of fuel truck drivers — who are responsible for delivering gas to stations — is among the factors driving outages, Ali said. Last month, CNN reported that between 20 and 25 percent of tanker trucks across the country were sitting idle, according to the trade group National Tank Truck Carriers. Many drivers left the business when the pandemic decimated demand for gasoline and never returned, CNN reported.

"We were already seeing delayed deliveries before the Colonial Pipeline incident" due to that issue, Ali said.

In a prepared statement Wednesday, Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan said the state would issue emergency waivers of weight restrictions and hours-of-service requirements for Maryland motor carriers.

"The emergency actions that we are taking will provide the state the flexibility it needs to address any disruption in fuel supply," Hogan said. "It is important for Marylanders to know that the supply chain is still working—albeit more slowly than usual—and there is no need for panic buying."

Amid the disruption Wednesday, gas prices hit a nationwide average of $3 per gallon for the first time since 2014, according to AAA. In Frederick, average prices rose 12 cents from last week to $2.92.

That increase is driven mainly by Americans returning to a more normal lifestyle as coronavirus restrictions ease, not by the Colonial Pipeline shutdown, according to GasBuddy analysts. At this time last year, as the pandemic was beginning, average gas prices in Frederick had fallen to $1.85.

"The reason for this price increase is due to COVID-19 recovery in demand paired with slow improvement in supply," Patrick DeHaan, GasBuddy's lead petroleum analyst, wrote in a statement.

Follow Jillian Atelsek on Twitter: @jillian_atelsek

Follow Jillian Atelsek on Twitter: @jillian_atelsek