Over on Fresh Loaf, Andisheh has a nice little expose on the blogger behind Twitter’s #atlgas, which Carl introduced us to last week.

But DM reader, Dexter, points out another interesting way of finding gas online. Apparently there’s this company called Wright Express, which is the leading provider of payment processing for the commercial vehicle fleet industry, which provides fuel cards for drivers.

Why do you care?

Because, whenever a commercial driver with a card buys gas, you can see it online instantaneously here.  Just type in your zip code, and click on “transaction time” twice once you get the results to sort by most recent purchase.  It also provides the price per gallon.  Here’s an example of gas recently purchased within 5 miles of Decatur.

Though it might not be as “grassroots” as #atlgas, it certainly looks extremely useful!

In case you thought you’d go out and grab some gas at lunch today, about a trillion other people had the exact same idea.

The AJC is reporting no gas and/or long lines this morning just north of Decatur (not to mention everywhere else)…

Overnight deliveries replenished supplies, at least partially, at some stations that were closed Sunday. But others remained dry. And some that did have fuel, like the Shell station at Clairmont and North Decatur roads near Decatur, were running out as cars lined up during the morning rush hour.

“I should be out, maybe before noon,” said manager Andy Jiw, shortly after putting a bag over another nozzle. By 7:30 a.m., cars were lined up five and six deep behind the only two pumps with gas.

Maureen McCarthy, who lives near Emory University, waited in line as the needle on her fuel gauge hovered at empty. She was late for work.

“It’s a nightmare,” she said. “I’ve gone to four different stations. When I saw this one I was like ‘Hallellelujah.’”

So much for waiting for the panic to end before buying…I’m down to 1/4 of a tank.  Luckily, I can take MARTA tomorrow.

Over at Peach Pundit, there’s an interesting discussion of whether Sonny’s price-gouging prohibition is contributing to the problem by interrupting the law of supply-and-demand.

Decatur’s rather fortuitous Car-Free day is this Wednesday.