ATLANTA — It's almost Fourth of July weekend, and over 1 million Georgians across the state are hitting the road to travel, according to AAA.
Thursday will be the busiest day for travel, and experts are warning people may have trouble finding gas.
With industry experts saying there's a lack of tank truck drivers floating around the country, some are worried about potential gasoline shortage rumors.
GasBuddy Head of Petroleum Patrick De Haan says there's nothing to worry about.
In an article from the company, Haan says there's not an actual gas shortage and that refiners are just producing nearly 4% less gasoline than all-time records.
"The problem is there aren’t enough truck drivers to keep up with deliveries, made worse by the pandemic as some truckers left for jobs elsewhere or were let go," Haan said in the article.
There are delays in gas deliveries at few stations, Haan says. Although stations with bagged up pumps are likely to have gas again within a few hours, Haan recommends people just try the next station over.
"As an analyst, I am 0% worried about this. You may notice it more on weekends when Americans are filling their tanks, but this is not something that will keep me up at night," he said.
Th latest GasBuddy data shows gas prices will be the highest this year since 2014, but Haan says he doesn't anticipate this is what will cause gas prices to spike since gasoline production isn't impacted.
For now, Haan says drivers should keep their eyes on the road, plan ahead, and stay along for the ride.
"Don’t let this worry you, you’ll find plenty of gasoline this summer," Haan said.
Conditions could change, but according to GasBuddy that's not likely. The company says they have experts monitoring the situation in case there is a widespread fuel shortage.
People can check the GasBuddy fuel availability tracker to help find gas near them.