Gas Near Me: Where to Find Stations with Gasoline Nearby During ‘Shortage’

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What can you do if you’re looking for gas, and many stations around you are out, but you simply don’t have enough fuel left to drive all over town, from location to location, trying to find gas near you? Although there isn’t truly a gasoline shortage right now, many stations in Texas are running low due to increased demand.

There are a few options that can limit your travel time and help you find gas near you faster.

Use Gas Buddy Online or Via Mobile App

Gas BuddyGasBuddy map for San Antonio.

Gas Buddy is a gasoline availability tracker that works from crowdsourcing reports from other users, and it’s very popular right now. If you visit a station and find that it has fuel or it doesn’t have fuel, mark that online or in the app. You can use Gas Buddy online to track fuel availability here. It has mobile apps here, but to access gas availability, you’ll need to go to the amenities tab, scroll over, and choose “has fuel.”

Gas Buddy is a great app, people are marking stations as “no fuel,” “has fuel,” “no power,” or “unknown.” This can give you real-time updates about gasoline status as you need it. Just remember: if you’re using the map, you won’t see the green/red/gray/black marks until you’ve zoomed in closer to the location where you’re looking.

If you use the app, do everyone a favor and update it with the results you’ve found too.

Note: Some people have contacted Heavy to share that GasBuddy isn’t always updating fast enough for them. If you’re really low on gas, you might call the gas station that GasBuddy shows has availability first, to make sure the information is up-to-date.

Call the Gas Station

First, just make a phone call. Try calling the gas stations closest to you and find out if there’s gas available, rather than wasting gas by driving from location to location. And don’t wait to fill up until you’re almost on empty, if that’s your typical strategy. Give yourself a little room so you’re not panicked, thinking your car’s going to break down on the side of the road as you search for gas.

You might also just try looking late at night or very early in the morning, around 3 or 4 a.m. Sometimes it’s best to avoid long lines from rush hour commutes.

Visit QuikTrip’s Mobile App if You’re in North Texas

Use the QuikTrip app store locator function for up-to-the-minute gas availability details. For a list of QuikTrips with fuel available today, see the list on QuikTrip’s website here. If you’re in the North Texas area, QuikTrip says the following stations may have fuel:

Visit Online Communities

Sometimes you can get the best real-time information from online communities, such as those on Reddit. Try these:

• Reddit Austin
• Reddit San Antonio
• Reddit Dallas
• Reddit Fort Worth
• Reddit Denton
• Reddit Houston

Do you have any other suggestions? Let us know in the comments below.

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Is There Really a Gas Shortage?