Canada: Diesel shortage ‘dire’ for shoppers

Truck fuel crunch threatens supply of retail goods, groceries

Alberta’s diesel supply crunch — expected to continue into next month — could result in a shortage of everything from produce to electronics on store shelves, warns the province’s trucking industry.

Problems at Alberta refineries have put the fuel in tight supply. Two are temporarily shut down while a third is not producing at full capacity.


The problem has forced some truckers to ration fuel by as much as 50 per cent, and that could have an impact on retail Christmas sales and even the flow of food to grocery stores if the situation drags out much past mid-November.

“It’s dire for everybody right down the line,” said Mayne Root, executive director with the Alberta Motor Transport Association.

Some 90 per cent of the products and food consumers use in Canada are hauled by trucks, making them the biggest consumer of diesel fuel in the country.

Calgary Herald