There was a lot of tech news this week and I could have easily spent hours blogging on dozens of topics, but I didn’t. Instead, I spent much of my time focused on one specific issue: the Charlotte gas shortage.
The gas shortage after hurricane Ike affected much of the Southeast, including the city I live in. It was the talk of the town all week and local TV stations spent much of their air time absorbed in it. One by one, stations ran out of gas and long lines formed around the stations that still had it or were expecting a delivery of gas at any moment.
I was directly affected by the shortage myself. Low on fuel, I sat in line for two hours waiting to fill my tank. I was one of the fortunate. A lot of others sat in line for 24 hours or more, waiting for gas just so they could drive home.
It hurt my business, too. The day before I filled my tank, I had to plan my onsite trips carefully to maximize the fuel I did have. I had to cancel or reschedule appointments simply because I didn’t have enough gas to get there and back. I received a number of contract jobs this week, however I turned them all down. Most of them didn’t pay enouqh to make it worth burning the gas I had to make the trip. It wasn’t the cost of fuel, however, that kept me from accepting the work. There simply wasn’t enough gas available around town to warrant the trip for the amount of the work order. It just wasn’t worth the trip to spend half of it looking for gas. I had more important things to save the gas for.
Today the mayor of Charlotte assured us that relief was on the way. The pipeline which had been shut down due to power loss was back in operation and a huge shipment of gas was on the way via that pipeline and tankers. He promised we would have plenty of gas within the next day or so.
That hasn’t stopped me from rethinking my own operation. It has given me pause to think about Next Time.
Yes, there will be a Next Time. I remember the energy crisis of the 70’s and experiencing the long gas lines then. I remember the flared tempers and violence that erupted in the lines of cars waiting for gas. I remember the rationing. I also remember incidents of gas siphoning and theft, even in broad daylight and the run on a new item called a locking gas cap for the car. I had one of those locking gas caps on my car; even after the gas crisis was over it was years before I finally went without one.
Three and a half decades later, it is happening all over again. Perhaps not everywhere, but it is happening nonetheless. It happened once. It happened twice. It will happen again.
What will you do when it happens? Do you have a plan for your business? Do you have a strategy to work through the next crisis to minimize the impact on your business? Some of us do remote support as well, and to a point, we can work around such obstacles. But some you work strictly onsite or at your shop. How will the next gas shortage affect your business?
It isn’t a matter of if it will happen, but when. Are you ready? Do you have a plan? Or will you wait until it happens before you decide to formulate one? You may think I am being too melodramatic, but think about it. With the volatile markets, current banking crisis, the falling dollar, rising cost of oil and unstable conditions in oil producing countries whose supply we depend on, it wouldn’t take but one small incident to create another oil crisis.
Those of us whose businesses rely on getting to and from the job are but one gas shortage away from jeopardizing our livelihoods. Be prepared. You have been warned.
