Glass Shops Feel the Effects of Southeast Gas Shortage in Wake of Hurricanes

The recent hurricanes have led to a shortage on gas in several Southeastern areas, and glass shops and distributors are some of those feeling its effects.

"It's been pretty bad," says James Cain, owner of Glass Pro Shop LLC in Hendersonville, N.C. "For the last three weeks, it's been really touchy as to where you can get [gas]. I've definitely felt it."

However, in his area, it is lightening up a bit. "It got a lot better last Thursday," he says. "It's not nearly such a problem now."
During the toughest part, though, Cain (whose business is purely mobile) found himself waiting 2.5 hours at a time to get gas.

"We did what we had to do," he says.

The Atlanta and Nashville areas currently are undergoing similar wait times, and, according to many, even after a wait, they discover there's no gas left at many stations.

"Our Nashville branch has had difficulty finding fuel for our delivery trucks," says Alice Dickerson, director of sales and marketing for Vitro America in Atlanta. "They wait for hours in line and they finally get to the pump and they're out. Our Atlanta branch had trucks waiting in line for an hour and an hour and a half trying to get fuel."

This is just compounding the problems much of the industry already is having, Dickerson says, in today's economy.

"Here we are, trying to make deliveries, trying to get fuel, business is down, and now we're paying a driver to sit at a pump for an hour and a half," she says.

Brian Diamond of Brian Diamond Glass, also in Atlanta, has been out of town for the last two weeks, but says as he returned to town yesterday, noticed something off.

"There were lines at all the gas stations, so I'm sure it's affecting everyone," Diamond says, though he notes he filled up his tank before he returned to town.

South Carolina hasn't gone untouched either, though for one shop owner, Bob Finger of Auto Glass Service in Spartanburg, the effects haven't been quite as bad as what some other areas are seeing.

"[Stations] are out of regular, this or that, but they still have gas [here]," he says.

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