Chancey's Wrecker Service has seen a surge in business - gas deliveries and out-of-fuel tows.

And because fuel is harder to find, it's stopped bringing gas to stranded motorists, instead towing them to their residence or a gas station. Workers did 20 tows Thursday, said Joanne Scott, a secretary and dispatcher.

The gas shortages are straining businesses in the area, especially those making deliveries or servicing clients in the field.

Amelia's Buds & Blooms Florist on Washington Road has revamped its delivery routes.

"We run an area of town once a day in order to conserve fuel," owner Amelia Pate said. "I try constantly to keep the delivery tank full. Once we get down to half a tank, we fill up again, just in case."

Robert Jackson, the owner of Choice Catering and WhoCooksAnymore?, said he and his employees spent 40 minutes Friday morning trying to get fuel at the Kroger gas station on Washington Road.

"We have to do a lot more planning and talk to people to find out where gas is," he said.

The catering service delivers food to companies from local restaurants. Mr. Jackson has urged his corporate clients to accept box lunches early so he can bundle orders and make deliveries to an area at one time.

Debbie Nix, the vice president of Southern Plumbing, Heating, Cooling & Electric, is monitoring her fleet of diesel trucks with GPS technology and can track whether technicians are idling, speeding or taking longer routes to ensure they aren't wasting fuel.

"Our trucks don't move unless they have to," she said. "We often dispatch from their home if they're closer to their first call. When we get a call, we match the technician who is closest to the area."

The possibility of customers and delivery drivers without gasoline has Mary Johnson, the store manager at Papa John's Pizza, worried.

Depending on the day, the Furys Ferry Road store could make 50 to 100 deliveries.

"If there's no gas, we'll have to go to pick-up only," she said, but she notes that isn't going to work because "customers won't have gas, either."

Reach LaTina Emerson at (706) 823-3227 or latina.emerson@augustachronicle.com.