Gas prices hit 7-year high, as stations face delivery, shortage woes ahead of July 4 weekend

The cost of gasoline has reached a seven-year high, and gas stations are expect to run out of fuel during the July 4 weekend.

The average national price for regular gas is priced at $3.10, the highest it has been since October 2014. The price is up 2% from Memorial Day and 42% from this time last year as COVID-19 pandemic restrictions brought demand to a near halt, according to CNN.

"Today, 89 percent of U.S. gas stations are selling regular unleaded for $2.75 or more. That is a stark increase over last July 4 when only a quarter of stations were selling gas for more than $2.25," said AAA spokesperson Jeanette McGee, according to The New York Post. "Road trippers will pay the most to fill up for the holiday since 2014."

Experts say the gas shortages expected to occur this weekend have nothing to do with the rising price of gas but are due to a shortage of tank truck drivers who supply gas to filling stations across the country.

More than 40 million Americans are set to travel for the three-day weekend, exacerbating the shortages.

"It used to be an afterthought for station owners to schedule truck deliveries. Now it's job No. 1," Tom Kloza, a top energy analyst for the Oil Price Information Service, which tracks prices for AAA, told CNN. "What I'm worried about for July is the increased demand works out to about 2,500 to 3,000 more deliveries needed every day. There just aren't the drivers to do that."

The gas shortages come more than a month after the cyber attack on the Colonial Pipeline, which brought the eastern seaboard to a near standstill by shutting down the pipeline, which supplied the region with at least 45% of its fuel.