Truck drivers who haul liquid fuel products in Nebraska, Iowa and South Dakota will be able to drive for extended hours and, in some cases, transport heavier loads thanks to the recent emergency measures taken by the states’ governors as the region faces a potential fuel shortage this winter.
According to Natural News, Gov. Kristi Noem of South Dakota and Gov. Pete Ricketts of Nebraska both issued emergency declarations, providing relief to the trucking industry to keep fuel supplies — especially diesel, heating oil and kerosene — rolling in steadily as the region braces for the winter season.
Gov. Kimberly Reynolds of Iowa issued a similar declaration.
In Noem’s emergency declaration, it was noted that the temporary rules resulted from “extremely low inventories and outages of certain liquid products including gasoline, diesel, jet fuel, propane, ethyl alcohol, natural gasoline, diesel exhaust fluid, and anhydrous ammonia.”
In October, Bloomberg sparked national headlines after reporting that, according to the Energy Information Administration, the nation only had 25 days’ worth of diesel fuel reserves before depletion. The level is a rolling indicator of how much supply is left at any given time, but steady production and importation have helped supplies hold close to that level for several weeks.
The looming possibility of a diesel fuel shortage has been amplified by congressional leaders, including House Minority Whip Steve Scalise of Louisiana, who implored the Biden administration to take steps to prevent such a crisis from occurring.
“This diesel shortage is threatening to crush America’s truckers and farmers—the backbone of our economy. The entire supply chain will feel the impact. RT if you agree: Biden needs to wake up to this crisis and unleash American energy production NOW,” Scalise tweeted earlier this month.
This diesel shortage is threatening to crush America’s truckers and farmers—the backbone of our economy. The entire supply chain will feel the impact.
RT if you agree: Biden needs to wake up to this crisis and unleash American energy production NOW.
— Steve Scalise (@SteveScalise) November 2, 2022
The fear is that continued supply chain disruption, trucker shortages, inflation, a harsh winter in some areas and other aggravating factors could drop that number further in a perfect storm of conditions, and several governors, including those mentioned above, are prepping ahead of what would likely be a deadly, dangerous scenario for Americans in certain parts of the country.
According to Fox Business, when diesel fuel supplies hit the 25-day mark, it was reportedly the lowest the running supply level has been since 1993.
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