GDOT aiding out-of-gas motorists

Bennie Conley gave out his first gallon of gasoline less than an hour into his afternoon shift.

"I didn't get one this early yesterday," Conley said as he helped another driver stranded without fuel alongside Interstate 285 east of Atlanta.

Conley works for the Georgia Department of Transportation as a highway emergency response operator.

With gasoline in many parts of the Atlanta area topping $4 a gallon, state roadside assistance crews are seeing a spike in the number of motorists who run out of fuel.

"The majority of them probably figured they could make it to an exit," Conley said. "Due to the traffic volume when they chose to get on the highway, it just wasn't possible."

A 5-gallon canister used to last Conley's entire eight-hour shift. Now, he fills up the tank once, and sometimes twice a day.

On a recent afternoon, Conley gave fuel to about one stranded motorist per hour. Each motorist gets about a gallon or two; just enough to get them to the nearest filling station.

"It's not uncommon for me to run into people who ask for more," Conley said. "That's not possible."

Because taxpayers foot the bill for the fuel Conley and the other crews give out for free, the surge in stalls is taking its toll, according to state communications specialist Monica Luck.

"You've got a 5-gallon gas container, it used to be you could take five dollars and fill that up," Luck said. "Now, we're having to spend $20 a can."

In Georgia, the average price for a gallon of regular unleaded gasoline is $3.95, slightly less than the national average of $3.98, according to AAA and the Oil Price Information Service.

Conley acknowledges some drivers try to take advantage of the system, but he records the license plate number of every driver he assists to help weed out those taking more than their share.

For Conley, who said he likes his job because he likes to help people, helping so many drivers who run out of gasoline teaches him an important lesson.

"Once you get off the job and get home, you've got to look at yourself and say, 'I've got to make sure I don't end up in that predicament,"' he said.

(The Associated Press)