Wow, I was amazed to run across a local article in a local paper on my daily search to see what people have to say about hybrids. I don't know about the Honda dealer's clain though. That's a just a tad far fetched. Still, it's nice to see a positive article instead of how Susie Soccer Mom Leadfoot only gets 19 MPG in her HCH but forgets to mention she leaves it idling for 3 hours a day with the A/C on.

-AL


Supplying the suppliers critical to fuel flow
This time, wholesalers able to top off tanks

Carlton Proctor
@PensacolaNewsJournal.com

Deputy Robby Way tops off his Escambia County Sheriff’s Office patrol car.
BenTwingley@PensacolaNewsJournal.com


Here we go again -- another hurricane adding the insult of long fuel lines and empty pumps to the injury of runaway prices.

What's driving this depressingly familiar scenario?

Tom Kelly, a spokesman for Radcliff Economy/Marine Service, operator of Pensacola's only fully functional bulk gasoline storage terminal, said there's more to it than the sudden supply-and-demand problems caused by frantic consumer purchasing as a hurricane approaches.

Getting the fuel from the bulk marine terminal to the pumps is growing increasingly difficult because of a lack of tanker trucks and drivers.

"The trucking side is where the problem is," Kelly said. "Trucking is really killing us here. Ever since (Hurricane) Ivan it's been hard finding truck drivers. Before Ivan, we'd run an ad for a driver and get 20 responses. Today, we run an ad and maybe get one or two."

Compounding that logistical problem is that Pensacola's only other marine-accessible bulk storage facility was damaged by Ivan and is temporarily shut down.

What's more, when weather worsens as a storm approaches, supply lines on both land and sea are disrupted, and the flow to the retail pump ceases.

That's exactly what happened before and after Hurricane Dennis, an event that drained Pensacola area gasoline stations dry for days before and after the July 10 storm hit the Panhandle.

The good news this time around as Hurricane Katrina threatens the Gulf Coast is that area wholesalers have topped off gas supplies in the past few days, and there appears to be a plentiful supply in the Pensacola area.

Greg Threadgill, owner of T-Gills, a local fuel distributor, said he believes the Panhandle is a little better prepared with fuel supplies than it was when Dennis approached. As Katrina threatens the coast, he said he will continue to deliver gasoline to some Pensacola stations unless conditions are considered unsafe.

"But once delivery is unsafe and once the barges can't get through the Gulf, there is nothing we can do," he said.

Port of Pensacola Director Leon Walker said U.S. Coast Guard officials plan to decide about 9 a.m. today whether to close area waterways, which would have a serious negative impact on fuel supplies.

Kelly said, however, that fuel stockpiles are plentiful in the Niceville and the Mobile areas, which wholesalers can access by truck and draw upon if gasoline dries up in the Pensacola Bay Area.

Unfortunately, once the threat of Hurricane Katrina passes and demand for gasoline eases, what stubbornly remains are record high prices. Those prices have Pensacola consumers fuming and looking for ways to conserve fuel and cope with the added economic pressures of nearly $3-a-gallon gas.

Many drivers, such as Pensacola's Steve Gentry, have felt the pain at the pump and have been forced to change lifestyles.

"We're staying at home," said Gentry, who is married and works for a Pensacola flooring company.

"It's gotten to the point where you don't want to go anywhere. I've got a 7-year-old and a 3-year-old, and it costs us $50 just to go to Chuck E. Cheese."

Staying home and scaling back have grown more and more appealing as gasoline prices have skyrocketed in recent months. Prices in the Pensacola area are at record highs, up an average of 80 cents a gallon from a year ago.

Experts and consumers speculate that $3 a gallon is not that far off.

Despite all that pain at the pump, AAA predicts some 34.5 million Americans will hit the road during the upcoming Labor Day weekend. That figure is slightly higher than last year's estimate of 34.2 million.

High fuel prices apparently have not scared off holiday travelers, largely because of strong travel demand and increased consumer confidence, said Pam Spillar, travel manager for Pensacola's AAA office.

"Although we have endured the escalation of gasoline prices, with the national average surpassing $2.60 per gallon and prices in Florida are well above $2.50, we still expect a substantial number of Americans will travel during Labor Day weekend, undeterred by gasoline prices," she said.

With worldwide demand for petroleum soaring -- especially as industries in nations such as India and China continue to grow and export more goods globally -- many Pensacola drivers believe the rising prices are a trend, rather than a blip.

But it could be worse.

Consider this: A gallon of gas in Europe these days averages about $6.50 in U.S. currency.

Stratospheric prices no longer concern Allan Peterson, who heads Pensacola Junior College's visual arts department.

Peterson drives the Honda Insight, a gas-electric hybrid that averages 62 miles per gallon, costs about $22,000 and is the most fuel-efficient car in America, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.

"It's very peppy and fun to drive," said Peterson who admits he still hears jokes from other drivers about "Where do you plug it in?"

Peterson is having the last laugh these days.

"People with SUVs come running across the parking lot all the time asking, 'Is that one of those hybrids?' "

Pensacola businessman Perry Logan, who once spent $50 a day on gas for his pickup, now shells out less than $25 a week to fill up a Toyota Prius. He drives his $22,000 car hundreds of miles throughout Northwest Florida each week and, averaging nearly 60 miles per gallon, typically has a quarter tank of gas left over for the weekend.

Logan was so pleased with the fuel-efficient, gas-electric hybrid, he bought a second one last week for his wife.

Pensacola Honda salesman Adam Corey says gas-electric hybrids are in such high demand "we could sell a hundred of them if we had them." But dealerships, he says, are on strict allocations for the highly desired Insight.

Those who can't afford a new fuel-efficient car have resorted to carpooling, organizing their driving trips, and actually obeying speed limits.

David Pena, a new-car salesman for Bob Tyler Toyota in Pensacola, is feeling the gas pinch like everyone else. He and his fiancee, who routinely spend $65 a week on gas, are starting to carpool to work.

Saving money while driving in Pensacola can be tough in light of a recent survey by the Portland, Ore.-based research group Sperling's Best Places. The research group's data shows that an average two-car family in Pensacola spends 14.5 percent of its take-home pay after taxes on gasoline.

The survey factors family income, the length of the daily commute and the price of gas to determine "The Most Expensive City to Drive In." Pensacola families with two cars spend an average of $4,181 for gasoline and drive an average of 59.8 miles a day, the report said.