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Diesel shortage 'dire' for shoppers
Truck fuel crunch threatens supply of retail goods, groceries
Tamara Gignac, Calgary Herald
Published: Saturday, October 25, 2008
Alberta's diesel supply crunch -- expected to continue into next month -- could result in a shortage of everything from produce to electronics on store shelves, warns the province's trucking industry.
Problems at Alberta refineries have put the fuel in tight supply. Two are temporarily shut down while a third is not producing at full capacity.
The problem has forced some truckers to ration fuel by as much as 50 per cent, and that could have an impact on retail Christmas sales and even the flow of food to grocery stores if the situation drags out much past mid-November.

Some pumps in Calgary are out of commission due to the shortage of diesel fuel.
Ted Rhodes, Calgary Herald


"It's dire for everybody right down the line," said Mayne Root, executive director with the Alberta Motor Transport Association.
Some 90 per cent of the products and food consumers use in Canada are hauled by trucks, making them the biggest consumer of diesel fuel in the country. Given the importance of the trucking industry to Canada's economy, more needs to be done to ensure the flow of goods is not impeded by fuel shortages, Root added.
That could mean requiring refineries to have a mandatory reserve system in place before shutting down for maintenance, he said.
"We're encouraging some communication between our industry, the oil companies and government to develop a process so that these kinds of things don't have such a huge effect," he said.
The Canadian Petroleum Products Institute -- an Ottawa-based group that represents major petroleum companies -- said every indication is that facilities operated by Petro-Canada, Imperial Oil and Suncor will be fully operational within two to three weeks.
"I'm not aware of changes in the flow of goods and services that people may be speculating about here," said vice-president Tony Macerollo.
"For the most part, people have been able to get (diesel) product -- although it might not be as much as they would like or the exact station they usually work with."
Like other retailers across Alberta, UFA stations have experienced spot runouts of diesel fuel, said spokeswoman Natalie Dawes. To compensate, the company is looking to suppliers in the United States.
"They don't have a lot of extra either, but what we can get, we're bringing up by rail to get out to our agencies as quickly as possible," she said.
It's not just the trucking industry that relies on diesel fuel -- Calgary's municipal fleets use about 18 million litres of it a year.
The city hasn't been impacted by the supply shortage because it has a fuel guarantee with Shell, said Al Guerard, manager of supply for the City of Calgary.
It's a critical arrangement to ensure that things like ambulances, buses and snow plows continue to operate. "I actually reaffirmed with them on Monday that our fuel was OK and we would get 100 per cent of what we request," he said.
"Our contracts are established to have a priority over commerce."
tgignac@theherald.canwest.com


© The Calgary Herald 2008