BASHAW, Alta. – Power to the dyed diesel pump at the UFA fuel station in Bashaw was turned off and Sharon Miller was just about to turn off the power to the clear diesel Oct. 17.
Fuel stations across the Prairies were forced to put up sold-out signs when problems at three Edmonton refineries either restricted or temporarily shut down diesel production.
The refinery troubles left farmers, truckers and school bus operators scrambling to find enough diesel fuel to continue to operate.
“We feel very vulnerable,” said Miller, with the Bashaw United Farmers of Alberta.
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The co-op was told it may receive a split load of diesel the next day, but had just received a fax that the fuel may not arrive for possibly two more days.
“We know the situation is grave and is out of our control. We feel very fortunate we haven’t run out before,” she said.
Some fuel stations have placed a limit on the amount of fuel each truck can buy at each stop to allow most trucks to keep operating.
Natalie Dawes, manager of corporate communications with UFA, said rationing has begun at its fuel stations across the province to try to keep fuel in most stations. Some pockets of the province ran out before they received their next ration.
“We are on allocations from all of our suppliers,” said Dawes.
UFA receives its fuel from several suppliers and isn’t tied to one refinery. It has even started to bring diesel in from the United States by rail to boost supplies.
Diesel shortages began sporadically this summer when three of Alberta’s refineries were either shut down for repairs, broke down or limped along at lower capacity.
Al Rosseker, executive director of the Saskatchewan Trucking Association, said his members don’t expect the shortages to ease up before Christmas, which could create serious problems getting goods into the province or products out.
More than 90 percent of the products coming into Saskatchewan arrive by truck and almost 75 percent of the gross domestic product leaves by truck, said Rosseker.
“When the trucks stop, the economy stops.”
The diesel shortage has forced trucking companies to decide who on their client lists gets the product delivered and who waits.
“It has put us in the unenviable position of (choosing) what freight gets through.”
Dwayne Lyons, a dispatcher for a Maidstone, Sask., trucking firm, Triple C Holdings, said he has told his drivers to fill up whenever they see a fuel station or phone ahead to make sure fuel is available.
“I tell them not to let the fuel gauge get below half,” said Lyons.
A day earlier one of the drivers filled up with fuel but got the dregs at the bottom of the bulk tank and spent the next day in the repair shop getting the dirty fuel out of the truck so it could return to work.
Jim Ryan of Butte Grain Merchants in Picture Butte, Alta., said his company has been cushioned from the diesel shortage by trips to the United States.
“We haven’t had any trouble,” said Ryan, but they always make sure their trucks are filled in the U.S. before returning to Lethbridge.
“We mostly fuel in the United States. It’s still a little cheaper,” he said.
Mayne Root, executive director of the Alberta Motor Transport Association, said fuel stations across Alberta are also on fuel rations. Fuel carriers all get first dibs on new supplies of fuel and the rest have to wait.
“Towards the end of their rotation some stations have run low or run out,” said Root. “It’s not a good situation for our industry, that’s for sure.”
In Manitoba, only one Petro-Canada cardlock outside Winnipeg had fuel left in the afternoon of Oct. 16, said Rosseker.
“In Western Canada, of all places, we have a fuel shortage,” he said.
