Last night after getting the results of the geophysical surveys, there are news of a possible gasoline shortage sent people in Dallas and the surrounding suburbs scurrying for gasoline. The frenzy appears to be driven largely by the thought that without a full tank of gas getting to work would be near impossible for many North Texans. By 11pm when I checked numerous gas stations were already running out of fuel including the Tom Thumb on Preston and Belt Line which was wrapped in yellow caution tape, but people were still trying to get the pumps to work. Across the street at the 7-Eleven they were out of all fuel except for Supreme and when I asked if they would be getting more there was no answer. The new Quick Trip south of Spring Valley at Alpha Rd and Preston was packed with a line winding through the parking lot and onto Preston Rd. Here they were out of Midgrade and Supreme and only had Unleaded fuel.

A woman fills her car up at a Quick Trip gas station in Dallas on August 30th, 2017 at 11:35pm at night as concerns over a gas shortage increase.

It was a completely different story over on 75 hwy, the gas stations here were seeing little of the hysteria. A Chevron at Spring Valley and 75 wasn’t very busy at all and an Exxon station across the street was open and empty. Across the highway a small Shell station was also not very busy. The only gas station in this part of town seeing much hysteria was the Walmart. The attendant here told me she had several fights break out during the madness and hoped today would be better. Oil and Well services are best done by the professionals at https://renegadewls.com/ and you can find more information there.

I spoke with nearly a dozen gas station managers and attendants last night. Most of them think that DFW will have sufficient fuel to get through this crisis, but most said they’re expecting to only have Unleaded fuel for at least a week and possibly longer.

Dallas residents try to get gasoline from the closed pumps at the Tom Thumb grocery store at Preston and Belt Line in North Dallas.

Quick Trip told me that 61 out of their 135 DFW area stores would be open and getting regular shipments of Unleaded fuel, they said using the Quick Trip app consumers could find a gas station that has fuel nearest to them.

I got this statement from 7-Eleven:

“Hurricane Harvey has impacted many gas refineries,
and Texas is experiencing a gas supply shortage as a result.
We are doing everything we can to provide gas to our
customers as it becomes available.” – 7-Eleven, Inc.

For everything else there’s the app GasBuddy (Android / iPhone). This app has users submitting prices and marking stations as being out of fuel.

This map shows all gas stations in the DFW metroplex. Red are stations without any gasoline and green are stations known to recently have gasoline.
H/T Chris Silver Smith

Here’s How We Can Work As a Community To Get Through This Gasoline Crisis

1. Calm The Heck Down, There Is No Crisis – According to state officials to WFAA There is No Actual Crisis of Fuel Supply in Texas. However, people reacting to the news of supply chain issues in the south due to Hurricane Harvey has led to supplies getting drained.
2. Stop Hoarding Fuel – There is a shortage of fuel right now, that’s undeniable, but this isn’t the end of the modern age and oil isn’t in scarce supply (at least not yet). Your hoarding fuel in massive 50 gallon drums is a waste of your time and ultimately does nothing but drive the price others pay at the pump up. You might think you can resell that fuel for a profit later but it may spoil or explode on you. Sure, top off your car if you must but don’t be that jerk who stockpiles hundreds of gallons of gasoline that may just go to waste.
3. Ride Your Motorcycle As Much As Possible – You’ve always wanted an excuse this good to ride your bike and now you have it. Hey you’re not doing it for the pure bliss you get when riding, you’re doing it for your city. We’ll have decent motorcycle riding weather until Tuesday of next week when there’s a chance of rain. Motorcycles use far less fuel and riding back and forth to work as well as to run small errands could greatly help reduce the amount of gasoline being used in DFW over the next few weeks. Gear up and ride!

   If you’re thinking of getting a scooter for sale, or looking to sell one, there are many options out there that could be found at go2scooter.com. A scooter can be a great way to improve your mobility, whether it’s to simply use while walking around, or to become a true mobility scooter for those with less than optimal mobility. If you’re considering getting one, this article will give you some ideas on how to find the perfect scooter for sale. You should also look to see if you can find one in your size before you make a purchase.

   Visit Cellino Law’s website for the latest motorcycle accident statistics.
4. Take a Kayak to Work – Hear me out, if they can do it in Austin we can do it here right? Anyone near the Trinity this is probably a bad idea.
5. If you have an Electric Car, Drive it – If you have an Electric or Hybrid car that you’re not driving to work daily consider making that your daily driver for the next few weeks.
6. Ride A Bicycle to Work – If you live close to work try riding a bicycle to the office. You might be a bit sweaty so make sure to keep a towel on hand and bring a change of clothes. You can change in the restroom once you get to work. You’ll save gasoline and you’ll get in some good exercise.
7. Carpool – The least popular option in this list probably, but it could help. Just remember it’ll all be over soon.
8. Drive the car, not the truck – Many households in DFW have more than one vehicle and often times that is a car or crossover with good gas mileage and a truck or full-size SUV. If that’s the case in your household consider ensuring whoever drives the furthest uses the car and whoever is making a shorter drive or driving infrequently uses the truck. Or, skip the truck altogether for a few days.
9. Take the DART – I know, taking DART buses can be a huge headache and big pain. Check the schedule going to and from work and see if you might be one of the exceptions with a fairly short ride to the office. If you live in the suburbs and work in Dallas taking the DART train might also be a good option over the next week or so.
10. Don’t order a meal or grocery delivery – Being super lazy and ordering things online to be delivered is all the rage right now. Most delivery vehicles for small items like a meal or groceries though are using regular gasoline (not diesel). If we all cut down on our delivery orders over the next week we might help reduce the amount of gasoline being used in the metro.
11. Take UberX when you go out – This is for you high-rollers out there that take Uber XL or SUV. Avoid using these services over the next week or so until this all dies down. Often times the vehicles driving UberX get more miles per gallon than than those bigger vehicles used for XL and SUV. Unfrotunately I have no idea what the Lyft equivalent is and I don’t believe either app allows you to select a ride based on mileage type
12. Telecommute – A lot of office workers will like this one. Using the website GasBuddy.com you can determine how much gasoline is per gallon in your part of DFW. If prices keep climbing you may be able to use that information to convince your boss to let you work from home for a few days. At Winner Winner Chicken Dinner we have a disaster plan for just this scenario, if prices cross a specific threshold team members affected by that stay home and notify the rest of the team that they’ll be working from home / a nearby coffee shop.
13. Allow the bus to take your kids to school – If your School offers a bus service that you’re not currently using you might consider using it. Many parents drive to school to drop off their kids, then to the office, then back to the school, and then home again. If the school and the work place are in different parts of the metroplex or even different sides of the city at scale this spends a lot of gasoline.
14. Plan your driving usage out thoroughly – Another way to save fuel is to try and do as many things as you can while using as little gasoline as you can. For example if you have a spouse and you both drive to work you might consider seeing if there’s a way for you to both take one vehicle. Or if you know you’ll need to get groceries after work make sure you stop at someplace on the way home. Instead of going to Downtown Dallas for a happy hour drink try and stay local and closer to your office or home. If you plan out your week of driving at the beginning of the week and tweak it to go the fewest miles possible then you’ll end up saving on fuel and money. For this I use Google Maps and just add my destinations for the day and record the miles required for the trip.
15. Ride Your Horse to Work – Horses are Street Legal in Texas. Ride A Horse, Save Some Gasoline. Ok, well it is Texas but most work places will probably not let you ride your horse to work, we hear it may not be legal / a good idea on highways, and most of you reading this probably don’t own a horse. It is an option though here in Texas. God bless this state.

A screenshot of a Google answer showing that horses are street legal in Texas.