Gas Station Runs Dry

Running on empty. It's something one gas station owner thought he would never see. Bra...  More »

Running on empty. It's something one gas station owner thought he would never see. Brad Feldman has the story of one gas station in Bismarck that ran out of gas during the busy holiday weekend. The bags on the pumps show a harsh reality for Tom Fetsch. (Tom Fetsch/ Best Stop) As of Sunday we ran out of premium. On Saturday we ran out of ten percent ethanol. The only thing left for his customers at Best Stop is some regular unleaded gasoline. Fetsch knew late last week he was on the verge of running dry. But even at that time he was confident he would have enough to last the weekend. (Tom Fetsch/ Best Stop) I think I did tell you that we did have enough gas to get us through the weekend and I wasn't going to worry about this week till this week got here and I was wrong. Now Fetsch is waiting for his next shipment of gas. He says before he was able to order a shipment of gas and get it the same day. Now his supplier is telling him that the order he placed this morning, MIGHT be in tomorrow. It's just that he doesn't know which grade of gas he will get or how much he will be getting. (Tom Fetsch/ Best Stop) The indicators were there that we shouldn't have a problem getting them but he didn't know where they were going to pull them from. Is he going to have to run to Rapid City or Glendive. Fetsch says this ends up costing stations more. In turn you end up seeing a higher price at the pump. (Tom Fetsch/ Best Stop) Its pretty scary for us as station owners because we don't know what the future holds for us. You know if Mandan does hold us off from getting nonbranded product until the first of November this could be a long next couple of months. Fetsch says he will continue to call around finding product whereever he can to keep his tanks from going dry again. Brad Feldman KX News Vining Oil company out of Jamestown is one of the main gas suppliers for the area. One of their spokesman told KX News today they have gone as far as Sioux Falls, Billings and Rapid City to get gas for stations.  « Less