Atlanta radio and the gas shortage

[jal41]

I am noticed Friday that a couple of radio stations were helping people out with the gas shortage.

I flipped by Q100 for a second, and one of the DJ's was helping a listener find gas. B98.5's Jordan Graye gave out the number to the Governor's Office of Consumer Affairs to report price gougers (of course, a song started, so she had to wait for the next song to begin to give out the number...can't stop the music).

I haven't had a chance to see how WSB-AM is covering the gas shortage. I also wonder how WABE and WGST are covering it.

 

[JR1967]

I listened to WSB Radio on Friday Afternoon, and it seemed that they were only covering the Gasoline situation during their top-of-the-hour news coverages with Jeff Hullinger and giving news reports on how the situation was around various locales around the area.

 

[atlradiofan2]

It is irritating to me that the anti 'gouging' rule is the reason for the shortage and yet everyone is so vigilant to make sure the government continues to price fix. If the gas station owners could raise pricing as their gas tanks started running low then only those customers that really needed the gas would buy it from that retailer. Everyone else would wait or go somewhere else. Problem solved. Gas becomes available to those that need it. I'm sure there are a lot of people that would pay $8 gallon before risking running out.

 

[taylorengineer]

I found WSB's description of the shortages as "spotty" ridiculous! Everywhere I have been, throughour metro Atlanta, there has been little gas and very few stations selling it. This has been a full blown crisis.....not "spotty shortages......"
It sounds like they are taking their talking points from the Guv-ner, Sonny (why would any modern 21st century republic elect a man named "Sonny" to govern??)Purdue, who proclaimed "gas supplies are plentiful" before he jetted off to Europe.
Concerning the "supply side" economic post above......you're wrong! Supposedly, the stations can NOT get the fuel - wouldn't matter if it did sell for $8 a gallon.
Seems to me like we had ample warning about the hurricanes and supplies could have been stockpiled - but this IS a great opportunity for corporate America to screw us again and reap enormous profits. But our only choices are to let business people make their profits or allow some incompetent governmental agency to start running gas stations.......whadya gonna do??
.

 

[bnaivar]

It is irritating to me that the anti 'gouging' rule is the reason for the shortage and yet everyone is so vigilant to make sure the government continues to price fix. If the gas station owners could raise pricing as their gas tanks started running low then only those customers that really needed the gas would buy it from that retailer. Everyone else would wait or go somewhere else. Problem solved. Gas becomes available to those that need it. I'm sure there are a lot of people that would pay $8 gallon before risking running out.

*golf clap* Well spoken. Well said.

 

[Rick Rose 2.0]

The Fish is also giving information on where to find gas in the metro. Actually having live personalities in studio on the weekends, what a concept.

 

[LarryWachs]

"I found WSB's description of the shortages as "spotty" ridiculous! Everywhere I have been, throughour metro Atlanta, there has been little gas and very few stations selling it. This has been a full blown crisis.....not "spotty shortages......"

Wrong. I make deliveries all across the metro and there is gas in plenty of places.

"Concerning the "supply side" economic post above......you're wrong! Supposedly, the stations can NOT get the fuel - wouldn't matter if it did sell for $8 a gallon."

Wrong again. If stations had their talks full and were selling it for $8 a gallon it would obviously take a lot longer for them to run out. Most stations are getting fuel, they are simply running our faster thanks to a bunch of idiots who are too paranoid to ride this out for a few more days. This is a case where people who actually need the gas would be a lot better off if it were priced above where people will fill up just to be safe as opposed to out of necessity. The former would simply wait for prices to come down, which we know it will soon.

 

[taylorengineer]

"I found WSB's description of the shortages as "spotty" ridiculous! Everywhere I have been, throughour metro Atlanta, there has been little gas and very few stations selling it. This has been a full blown crisis.....not "spotty shortages......"

Wrong. I make deliveries all across the metro and there is gas in plenty of places.

"Concerning the "supply side" economic post above......you're wrong! Supposedly, the stations can NOT get the fuel - wouldn't matter if it did sell for $8 a gallon."

Wrong again. If stations had their talks full and were selling it for $8 a gallon it would obviously take a lot longer for them to run out. Most stations are getting fuel, they are simply running our faster thanks to a bunch of idiots who are too paranoid to ride this out for a few more days. This is a case where people who actually need the gas would be a lot better off if it were priced above where people will fill up just to be safe as opposed to out of necessity. The former would simply wait for prices to come down, which we know it will soon.

If there is NO product to sell.....how does the market set a "price?" Explanation I have heard is there is shortage of product.
Regarding "golf claps" for you guys who can afford $8/gallon gas and think that's the way to decide who gets gas and who doesn't - I'll steal gas from your Lexus first<grin>

 

[seabass]

If there is NO product to sell.....how does the market set a "price?" Explanation I have heard is there is shortage of product.
Regarding "golf claps" for you guys who can afford $8/gallon gas and think that's the way to decide who gets gas and who doesn't - I'll steal gas from your Lexus first<grin>

There is product to sell. Therefore the laws of supply and demand dictate that the station owners should be able to price gas to keep from running out. The anti-gouging laws distort pricing and leave outages. Government socialists would have you believe that no gas at $4/gallon is preferable to some gas at a higher price.

 

[ricksegers]

A panic by the public took what would have been a three day problem and blew it into the situation that exists. There have been countless interviews on TV about people in line waiting two hours to top off with a 1/4 of a tank or less. That's the real problem. I was in North Carolin over the weekend and there was plenty of gas as low as 3.75 and checking with friends in other parts of Georgia there are no problems. It's just the looking out for me and nobody else mentality that exists in the metro ATL that's caused our perceived "gas crisis".

 

[bnaivar]

"I found WSB's description of the shortages as "spotty" ridiculous! Everywhere I have been, throughour metro Atlanta, there has been little gas and very few stations selling it. This has been a full blown crisis.....not "spotty shortages......"

Wrong. I make deliveries all across the metro and there is gas in plenty of places.

"Concerning the "supply side" economic post above......you're wrong! Supposedly, the stations can NOT get the fuel - wouldn't matter if it did sell for $8 a gallon."

Wrong again. If stations had their talks full and were selling it for $8 a gallon it would obviously take a lot longer for them to run out. Most stations are getting fuel, they are simply running our faster thanks to a bunch of idiots who are too paranoid to ride this out for a few more days. This is a case where people who actually need the gas would be a lot better off if it were priced above where people will fill up just to be safe as opposed to out of necessity. The former would simply wait for prices to come down, which we know it will soon.

If there is NO product to sell.....how does the market set a "price?" Explanation I have heard is there is shortage of product.
Regarding "golf claps" for you guys who can afford $8/gallon gas and think that's the way to decide who gets gas and who doesn't - I'll steal gas from your Lexus first<grin>

There is no "product" because of the hording. A TEMPORARY spike in gas prices would top that. I can't "afford" $8 a gallon gas for my Civic Hybrid, but I certainly can't afford to sit at home wishing I could get to work.

 

[taylorengineer]

"I found WSB's description of the shortages as "spotty" ridiculous! Everywhere I have been, throughour metro Atlanta, there has been little gas and very few stations selling it. This has been a full blown crisis.....not "spotty shortages......"

Wrong. I make deliveries all across the metro and there is gas in plenty of places.

"Concerning the "supply side" economic post above......you're wrong! Supposedly, the stations can NOT get the fuel - wouldn't matter if it did sell for $8 a gallon."

Wrong again. If stations had their talks full and were selling it for $8 a gallon it would obviously take a lot longer for them to run out. Most stations are getting fuel, they are simply running our faster thanks to a bunch of idiots who are too paranoid to ride this out for a few more days. This is a case where people who actually need the gas would be a lot better off if it were priced above where people will fill up just to be safe as opposed to out of necessity. The former would simply wait for prices to come down, which we know it will soon.

If there is NO product to sell.....how does the market set a "price?" Explanation I have heard is there is shortage of product.
Regarding "golf claps" for you guys who can afford $8/gallon gas and think that's the way to decide who gets gas and who doesn't - I'll steal gas from your Lexus first<grin>

There is no "product" because of the hording. A TEMPORARY spike in gas prices would top that. I can't "afford" $8 a gallon gas for my Civic Hybrid, but I certainly can't afford to sit at home wishing I could get to work.

People start hoarding when they see supplies dwindling - then the problem feeds on itself due to hoarding.
But the shortage is a problem of production - plain and simple. When more product is available then people will stop the panic behavior.
Radio has finally gone full steam on the gas issue.....but supplies seem to be more plentiful today. Stations which have not had gas for days are open again today.
You know....media fueled panic has not happened. This has been really played down over the last two weeks....at least until a couple of days ago. I know some have posted that they see gas everywhere......in the areas I have traveled, gas is practicall non existant until today. This is why people are hoarding fuel - it's pure survival.
I still say this is real and the problem is supply - not human behavior

 

[OutOfTheBiz]

I still say this is real and the problem is supply - not human behavior

You can "say" it all day, but that does not make it true. The inventory of gas in Atlanta is sitting in people full tanks and the two or three gas cans so many people are bringing in. Have you ever in your like seen people fill their tank AND gas cans? No, you haven't. All of that extra consumption has thrown the balance of supply and demand out of whack. If you allow lots of extra consumption without a price increase to slow it down, you have exactly what we have now - a shortage of inventory. This is basic Economics 101 which quite obviously is not taught (or at least LEARNED) in most Georgia high schools.

For once, I think the media took the responsible course of action. I'm actually a bit shocked they weren't out fanning the flames from day one with cameras and microphones everywhere spewing their doomsday news.

 

[PST]

I'd still not rather hear radio stations say "Hey, there's gas at the X on the corner of Y and Z. It's just Atlantans helping Atlantans!" No, you're causing even more of a run on that station and by the time most of the people get over there, the gas is gone anyway.

 

[taylorengineer]

I still say this is real and the problem is supply - not human behavior

You can "say" it all day, but that does not make it true. The inventory of gas in Atlanta is sitting in people full tanks and the two or three gas cans so many people are bringing in. Have you ever in your like seen people fill their tank AND gas cans? No, you haven't. All of that extra consumption has thrown the balance of supply and demand out of whack. If you allow lots of extra consumption without a price increase to slow it down, you have exactly what we have now - a shortage of inventory. This is basic Economics 101 which quite obviously is not taught (or at least LEARNED) in most Georgia high schools.

For once, I think the media took the responsible course of action. I'm actually a bit shocked they weren't out fanning the flames from day one with cameras and microphones everywhere spewing their doomsday news.

Panic has AGGREVATED the situation - it is not the genesis. That statement is based on news reports - not my opinion.
What part about "refinery output half of normal" did you not hear about?? "No reserve capacity or refining capability in the S.E. United States" means..........we don't have the ability to store petro or refine petro anywhere nearby. This is from Drudge Report.....there are any number of other news sources to confirm this fact. I am not giving you my opinion......this is the story being reported. So stop with this "people are sh*theads" attitude - the herd is only doin' what the herd does when food is scarce.......
I, too, am very surprised the media has not hyped this anymore than they have. You can't depend on anything anymore.......

 

[bnaivar]

And yet Washington D.C. , which is on the tail end of the same pipeline that Atlanta gets it's gasoline supply from, has no shortage. ???

 

[taylorengineer]

And yet Washington D.C. , which is on the tail end of the same pipeline that Atlanta gets it's gasoline supply from, has no shortage. ???

From what I understand Washington DC is served by other sources along with the Colonial. There is a news report on Drudge's site which explains that the SE is unique in that it has no storage or refining capability.
I can't believe we are arguing about something which is so obvious. But I give up.....we're about to be told to "take it outside."

 

[TheRealOtherNeil]

Both the administration and the oil companies say there is no gas crisis. Do they honestly expect us to believe them? Here something else the Administration said - Iraq has stockpiles of WMDs. That turned out to be false. Oil companies (Exxon in particular) are posting their highest quarterly earnings reports. How are they doing this? By charging more for gas. By relying on our fears. No one trusts these guys. So when they say there is plenty of gas and we should not panic, guess what? I am not buying that BS. I am one of those jamokes who fills up when I still have ¾ of a tank. Rip me if you want but I pass 6 stations on my way to work, all are out. I believe my empirical skills before the greed heads who run our government and oil companies, who are really one in the same.

As for radio, if FM stations had news departments maybe they could follow this story more in-depth and focus on the local impact. The AM stations in town are restricted by network programming thus in-depth and local can’t be done in a six-minute newsbreak when 4.5 minutes are spots, traffic and weather. I remember a time when FM stations could launch investigations and effect changes or cause outrage. Now you can’t do that because we need to hear more bad pop music or a Led Zep song for the 400th time this week.

 

[taylorengineer]

No shortage of weasel words from the Gub-ment or them lyin' gas com-ney crooks........
The really sad part is how easily we are misled! How so many have not one iota of understanding of economics- we just believe whatever the radio and TV people tell us.
The thing I find the most depressing is the depth of my OWN stupidity about anything and everything........

 

[OutOfTheBiz]

[
What part about "refinery output half of normal" did you not hear about?? "No reserve capacity or refining capability in the S.E. United States" means.

I did not hear about them because they are not true. Where did YOU hear this? Please show me one credible piece of news that supports these claims.

I'll be pre-emptive and show you a brief excerpt from an AJC article from Sunday 9/28
http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/stories/2008/09/28/gas_shortage_explainer.html

The stockpiles of gasoline and other products are lower now than after Hurricane Katrina. So current shutdowns are mainly due to power outages in the areas where there are refineries. The good news is they’re starting to come back online. Production will be restored faster than it was after Katrina and Rita because the refineries weren’t damaged as badly. As of Friday, only four of 56 Gulf Coast refineries remain closed.