According to Wikipedia the system has significant buffer capacity: > Fifteen associated tank farms... provide a 45-day supply for local communities. Such buff

According to Wikipedia the system has significant buffer capacity: > Fifteen associated tank farms... provide a 45-day supply for local communities. Such buffer capacity makes sense considering how long deliveries actually take: > It generally takes from 14 to 24 days for a batch to get from Houston, Texas to the New York harbor, with 18.5 days the average time. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colonial_Pipeline https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colonial_Pipeline Also consider where the shortages are occurring: in sprawling, rural and exurban areas where the last-mile infrastructure is likely exceptionally thin; that is, much less able to handle surges. It's not just computer and car manufacturers that optimize for "on-demand inventory"--i.e. cut carry costs to the bone, sacrificing volatility resilience.