Transit service returns after fuelish fears Temporary gas shortage caused some cancellations
Every weekday, 150-200 individuals rely on Walker Transit for transportation to doctor appointments, schools, jobs, senior centers and shops.
Late Tuesday, Sept. 27, Transit workers began calling those already scheduled for Wednesday rides to tell them no buses would run due to lack of fuel. The county was out of gas due to the Colonial Pipeline break that is causing fuel shortages throughout the South and East. Vans that usually burn two tanks of gasoline every day when in service were parked.
“The hiccup here is not that no gas was ordered, but that Friday’s delivery never arrived because the distributor had nothing to deliver,” Transit Supervisor Larry Brooks said. “Our supplier wasn’t able to bring a drop for several days.”
Many users received telephone calls telling them that Transit services would be cancelled the following day due to a lack of fuel as a result of a pipeline break in Alabama.
Those warnings turned out to be unnecessary as Parman Energy, the county’s Chattanooga-based vendor, made a predawn delivery and white Transit vans were up and running shortly after daylight Wednesday.
Commissioner Bebe Heiskell said the county only became aware of potential nondelivery on Tuesday. She said arrangements were being made so that anyone with a critical need, such as being scheduled for dialysis, could have been served.
Funded in large part by a federal rural transportation grant, Transit provides doorto-door service to anyone within the county. The only requirements are that riders make reservations at least a day in advance of travel and pay $4 each time they step onto the handicappedaccessible vans.
Weather-related cancellations are not uncommon. But it is usually because snow and icy conditions, or flooding, keep the buses off the road — not because their only fuel is fumes.
Brooks said the notice of cancelled service, even though it did not occur, was necessary to allow riders to either change plans or make alternative arrangements for travel.
“When we received news from Parman that they wouldn’t be able to deliver, we put out a notice that service was being suspended,” he said. “It is the same as during times of expected inclement weather.”
The fuel shortage was not due to any funding shortfalls but was strictly a supply problem.
Walker county Road Superintendent Jeff Long said Parman, consistently low bidder as supplier, said Friday’s gasoline order could not be filled at any of the fuel terminals in Chattanooga as
tanks near the airport and those in St. Elmo were dry.
“We had dropped to below having 900 gallons of gas on hand,” he said. “That was enough for the sheriff and fire department. This (Wednesday) morning Parman sent a text message that we would receive 4,100 gallons.”
Long said that should be enough for about a week, as the county’s fleet normally burns between 4,000 and 5,000 gallons of gasoline between its weekly orders. He said the end of last week or the first of this week should resolve the temporary fuel crisis.
“We have plenty of diesel,” Brooks said. “But just like you as an individual can’t find all grades of gas at your usual convenience store, we haven’t been able to get enough for our vehicles.
“We apologize to Transit riders, but the other departments have to deal with this same problem of supply and demand.”
Idled mowers or brush trucks do not pose major problems if their use is put off for a day or two, and the county maintains reserves of gasoline so first responders and emergency vehicles are always ready to roll.
But public transit services fall into an area of being critical for a few, essential for some and usually not thought about by most.
“Our buses don’t run on air,” Brooks said.
A process is underway that could make it possible for fuel purchases to be made at local stores or stations. While there currently are no county credit cards that could be used to fill up Transit’s fleet, that could change.