National Diesel shortage may impact Weakley County
Jeff Cosby
story by Senior Investigative Reporter Shannon Taylor
The Public Works Committee met Nov. 7 and discussed how diesel shortages could possibly impact Weakley County Schools.
The United States has reported experiencing a diesel shortage due to multi-year low stockpiles and supply bottlenecks. Reports have suggested that only 25 days of fuel are left in the nation’s fuel bank, which reports suggest could lead to an increase in price.
Weakley County Commissioner James Westbrook stated that, “my sources say that diesel might be a real problem in the near future” and wanted to bring that discussion to the table.
Weakley County Road Supervisor Jeff Cosby said that his sources were telling him the same thing and stated that they got a load last Tuesday of 5,000 gallons. “Between us and the bus garage I don’t know how long it will last because half their busses are diesel and most of our stuff is diesel. I can’t answer if and when it’s going to be a problem. They are saying there is a Nationwide diesel shortage. We’re okay now, but if I have to go to another source, we may be paying more money per gallon if we can even get it.
Cosby said that if they had not of gotten that load last Tuesday that they would have had to go out of Nashville to get the fuel and the cost would have been 80 cents higher per gallon. “Luckily we got that load so we’re okay now.”
The board added that sources say that Tennessee could be hit worse and TDOT has been informed not to use fuel out of their tanks but to go buy it at the store and keep what they have in their storage tanks instead, but that Weakley County doesn’t have that luxury.
Cosby said, “I don’t want to pay more money for it if I don’t have to, but it may come down to it.”
The board also discussed equipment needed and spoke on a new tar machine. Commissioner Dennis Doster said that the one they are currently using is costing them money to use because of tar build-up and that he’d like to see the matter discussed in January.
The Weakley County Commission will meet on Nov. 21 at the Weakley County Courthouse at 5 p.m.
