Coulson Aviation’s fuel trucks for their CH-47 helicopters. Coulson photo.The lingering effects of the pandemic have left a symptom that may affect aerial firefighting. The logistics system for Jet A aviation fuel atrophied when air travel dropped sharply. Now that business and leisure travel have rebounded, competition is heating up for what is now a limited amount of fuel that is being distributed. Larger airports served by aviation fuel pipelines are in better shape than smaller facilities that depend on a person driving truck to their location.
Fire Aviation talked to over a dozen people in the aerial firefighting community and confirmed that one air tanker base that serves large air tankers came very close to running out of Jet A, but a truck arrived just in time. We were not able to confirm one report that another large base did run out.
One place where a fuel shortage could show up is at base heliports on wildland fires. The contractors who supply helicopters have their own fuel trucks, but if the product becomes scarce they might have to travel a farther distance to refill the tanks on the trucks. And the larger the helicopter, the more fuel they need. An example is the tanker trucks Coulson Aviation drives to fires which likely hold thousands of gallons to keep their CH-47 helicopters running . (See the photo at the top of this article.)
As of Thursday all of the bases for large air tankers in Washington and Oregon had a supply of fuel, but several smaller airports that serve Single Engine Air Tankers were having problems.
The airport at Lake County, Oregon 28 miles from the 236,000-acre Bootleg Fire exhausted their supply of Jet A earlier this week, the Lake County Sheriff’s Office reported.
“The Lake County Airport ran out of Jet A fuel July 11, 2021,” the Sheriff’s Office said in a press release Wednesday July 14. “Several surrounding airports also ran out of Jet A fuel and turned to the Lake County Airport for support. The Airport Manager had put in an order July 5, but because of a national shortage, the Lake County Airport was unable to get fuel until today. The Lake County Commissioners contacted State Representative E. Werner Reschke and the Department of Energy in an effort to find fuel for the Airport. The team made countless phone calls and sent emails to regional suppliers, airports and many other sources trying to fill the immediate order.”
The Lake County airport received 3,500 gallons on Wednesday and expected another 8,500 gallons Friday.
The Los Angeles Times interviewed Chris Kunkle, vice president of operations for the Central Coast Jet Center in Santa Maria, Calif., in Santa Barbara County, the home of an air tanker base that can serve air tankers of any size, including DC-10s.
“In the blink of an eye, we can have a fire here within our response area that can bring in one to three DC-10s and a bunch of variable-sized air tankers,” he said. “We can go from a couple thousand gallons a day to 50,000 to 60,000 gallons.”
He said he likes to keep 60,000 gallons at the airport, but is having trouble with limited deliveries. He fears running out if a large fire breaks out in the area.
Fire Aviation asked a spokesperson for the National Interagency Fire Center several questions about the fuel shortage issue, including if any air tanker or helicopter bases in the Western U.S. have recently run out of aviation fuel.
“The agencies that manage airtanker bases are aware of potential issues regarding the availability of jet fuel at smaller, rural airports in the West,” the National Interagency Fire Center said in a statement issued July 16. “However, there have been no significant impacts to wildland fire aviation operations. We continue to monitor the situation and consult with our aviation partners and industry representatives. As a contingency, at some locations we have identified alternate airports and airtanker bases that could be utilized should fuel supplies become low or run out.”
23 Comments
The biggest reason got the Jet-A shortage is that nobody wasn’t to go back to work and without the fuel truck drivers it. Is hard to get fuel to airports not on a pipeline.
Then imagine if there was a pipeline problem like the shutdown of the Colonial Pipeline in May?
Fire managers so contingency control lines. IMHO. There need to be some contingency Jet A fuel tanker plans put in place.
To a certain degree, local military installations avail their fuel bunkers [to] civilian firefighting efforts under duress/remote locations. But I believe in those cases require a signature from the state’s governor to implement. Over the years I’d worked closely w/ the Op Plan Smokey tanker drivers and crew rest quickly becomes an issue. The need for fuel can quickly eclipse a local Guard base’s capacity to deliver.
I’d suggest reduce commercial travel, spend the jet fuel on fire fighting. Without aerial support, much more acreage will burn across the U.S. My first thought, skeptic, is this an opportunity for refineries to raise the price of jet fuel, and/or create this shortage?
No.. the problem is getting fuel from refineries to tanker bases.
There is a nationwide shortage of qualified truck drivers. You need tanker and haz mat CDL endorsement to move Jet A.
Some parts of the country are having similar problems with retail gasoline deliveries.
Bob,
What’s your take on the Trucking Industry’s overall aging employee challenge? It’s been skewing upward for years, I think the avg. driver today is around 56 y.o. And while my expertise is primarily aviation supply sector, my understanding is tanker drivers represent the best of the best. Who knew finding drivers willing to be away from home for extended periods transporting flammable liquid would be hard to come by?
Yes.. current Bureau of Labor Statistics data is 55 average age. CMV driver shortage is an active issue in trucking. One approach is trying to lower the age to get a CDL to 18 ( current is 21).
Some like me are scared stiff think about 18 year old fuel tanker drivers.
Good thing is driving truck is a good second career.
Bob,
Well, it’s a suggestion. Btw, I believe the avg. age on an aircraft carrier *is* 18 y.o and those guys/gals do some pretty amazing things! Flight ops extending into the wee hours, ordinance handling, hot-refueling!? A young man’s game I remember well. Major difference being, you’re always under the mentorship of more seasoned sailors and a carrier truly is a self-contained world unto itself.
Back in the real world, distractions abound. Recent corp sponsored “EROAD” dash cam training revealed there’s no shortage of organized/repeat insurance scammers out there. And that company logo on the side of the truck the driver is attempting to deliver safely = deep pocket payouts! But isn’t lowering to 18 y.o just skewing ( torturing ) the bell curve? However, all indications are an aging pool results in reduced reaction time, vision and a plethora of other medically related issues. No easy answers here…
I’m ready to go to work Years of Fuel Support in all types of Aircraft.
KG,
You in or willing to transfer to the Pacific Northwest?
No prob, jet fuel buffs . . .
“Electric and hybrid-electric propulsion is rapidly revolutionising mobility technologies across industries, from automotive to marine. And the aviation industry is no exception. At Airbus, our work in electric flight aims to lay the groundwork for future industry-wide adoption and regulatory acceptance of alternative-propulsion commercial aircraft and urban air vehicles.” . . .
Don’t like that answer . . . ?
. . . “Today, the large-scale deployment of renewable energy is accelerating, as the world looks to increasingly decarbonise its energy mix. And a share of this renewable energy is expected to open up new possibilities, such as the conversion of renewable electricity into liquid fuels. Known as Power-to-Liquid (PtL), this type of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) is emerging as an exciting option to fuel future aircraft.” . . . (AIRBUS)
That might be a long term answer.
What do you suggest air ops do tomorrow if they are short fuel?
Bob,
+100 btw. Still on the drawing board technologies don’t offer much in the way of relief to communities threatened today. Further, as a long time Oregonian, the rest of the nation may not fully appreciate how challenging making a living here in the Rural West can be? Unlike industrialized centers in the Midwest and Northeast, gainful employment can be sparse in the best of time and never just down the block or across the street.
The loss of a warehouse or major employer to fire in say Dallas, Raleigh etc. while tragic is remedied thru insurance and interim lines of credit. In the Rural West, will the last person leaving town please turn out the lights…
After I left fire I worked in trucking. Just like there are problems attracting and filling fire positions there is a nationwide lack of qualified CMV drivers.
Like fire, driving a Jet A fuel tanker requires specific qualifications. A class A CDL, medical card with both haz mat and tanker endorsements. When Covid hit and air travel was reduced fuel tanker drivers were laid off. They now work in other segments of trucking. Covid shut down truck driving schools and State Drivers License Authoritys for drivers to get the CDL needed. As normal attrition removed CDL drivers few new drivers were able to enter.
Just as there are many open unfilled positions on fire crews in wildfire this year the problem is worse in trucking.
It’s not just Jet A, retail gasoline deliveries in some parts of the country have been affected.
Idaho has already made an emergency declaration relaxing CMV driver hours of service to move Jet fuel for wildfire operations. But do you really want jet fuel tanker drivers driving more than the current 11 hours driving 14 hours work already allowed under CMV driver hours of service?
Hopefully this article may bring this problem to the forefront before it impacts air operations.
In hurricane country there are call when needed resources available to move Jet A after storms. Moving a trucking resource from FL to ID is just another days work. But it will cost money.
I wonder if access to RGN to move heavy equipment or truck out of state engines may affect resources too?
Glad to see this article pointing out the problem.
Well
Thought there was a phone line at the Big House to call up DOE to release some of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve
Then the the Fed Government that could tanker some of the fuel under quite possibly FEMA and get some of those parked fuel trucks to spot for the time being. There’s the Governors who could call a Declaration at the State levels activating the Guard for fuel delivery…….yeah I know…Economy Act…..but there has to be contingencies for this very reason
COVID sure tested the COOP /COG even at the civilian levels
No wonder FEMA has been preaching Whole Community as if we already didn’t know that private industry is INTEGRAL to most government operations
Time for more work on fuel contingency plans and maybe encouraging the millennial generation while their deciding what to do with their futures, thumbs, and keyboards that maybe truck driving might open some opportunities. Granted, it’s not for everyone
The premise of the article, that there is a “nationwide aviation fuel shortage,” is entirely false. The problem is that there is a shortage of truck drivers who are key to the aviation fuel supply chain for truck-supplied airports.
Provide your source of information.
Same.. please cite your sources.
You are warned. Take my warning or not.
Fire Aviation is not the kind of website where someone can make up crap, and put it out there as truth. Your earlier comment will be deleted since you have refused to give a reliable source for the outrageous statement.
I can’t believe this excuse. Firefighting is a priority and everything possible should be done to ensure that firefighters have all the tools necessary for them to do their jobs. It really is a matter of life and death.
MD, I have had my CDL since 1992; however, haven’t driven a truck steadily since 1996. I hope that your observation of ” Who knew finding drivers willing to be away from home for extended periods transporting flammable liquid would be hard to come by?” was tongue in cheek. I have advocated for decades that trucking needs to re-invent itself and develop ways to allow truckers a lifestyle other than sitting in a truck 24 hours a day.
FYI, there’s not a driver shortage. There are millions of Americans with CDLs that have abandoned trucking. You can thank the major carriers for the distaste left in CDL holders’ mouths.
At 65 with about six years of driving, five years in refueling aircraft and six years in hauling fuel with a current Class A with a current X endorsement I have thought about trying to acquire a job with a fire crew to fulfill a long ago desire to work with the USFS. But at 65.. It’s most likely a pipedream..
For those that believe that autonomous vehicles are the wave of the future.. FYI there’s about 500,000 mom and pop carriers with small fleets that cannot afford the technology.
https://www.cnbc.com/2021/06/30/fuel-delivery-delays-caused-by-truck-driver-shortage-gasbuddy-analyst.html
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