Minnesota Truckers Have Run Out of Gas
Hausladen said the shortages were brought on by increased demand by farm equipment during the harvest, the ongoing transition to ultra-low sulfur diesel fuel and a changing mix of products coming out of refineries.
"They will eventually get fuel," he said of the tight markets. "Shortages like this do happen with regularity, year by year."
It would take a long shortage for increased shipping costs to reach consumers, so the short-term pinch will be felt mostly be trucking companies. "If you normally have to go 10 miles to get it, and now you have to go 100, that's a big deal," he said.
However, he said trucking companies in the state were expecting a more lasting problem of finding enough top-grade diesel fuel during the winter. The fuel, called No. 1 diesel, is mixed with lesser grades to make them more resistant to freezing.