Shortages are becoming the norm since the coronavirus pandemic hit, but to coin a phrase, change is painful.

Some local businesses are noticing a shortage of coins in their cash registers, and at least one local bank is waiving fees for those who use their coin machines to convert household change to paper money.

Nick Ruffner, public relations manager for Sheetz restaurant and convenience stores, said cashiers began noticing less jingling going on in the registers about three weeks ago.

When it became apparent that coins were in short supply, Sheetz officials took action in their 600 locations, including the 10 in Butler County.

“If we can be proactive rather than reactive, I think that's really important,” Ruffner said.

Sheetz is asking customers to donate their change, whether it's a handful or a large amount that's neatly rolled, to the Sheetz for the Kids program.

Ruffner said the donated change will be used by Sheetz stores, but the amounts will be recorded and given to the program, in which employees shop for and wrap Christmas presents for needy children in their stores each holiday season.

Normally, Sheetz asks customers to donate their change for the program each July and December.

“Bring in that change and donate it at the register there to Sheetz for the Kids,” Ruffner said. “It's going to make a difference for the coin shortage and it's going to make a difference for the kids.”

Ruffner said Sheetz also is asking customers to pay for their purchases using a card, via the “Shcan and Go” app or by ordering made-to-order food online.

He said the coin shortage is not causing significant problems for Sheetz at this point.

Doug Sprankle, owner of Sprankle's Neighborhood Markets in Saxonburg, said his busy supermarket is not noticing a shortage of coins.

“The change used is not very substantial,” Sprankle said. “It's not a big deal.”

He credits the store's bank, NexTier, with his cash registers' plentiful change compartments.

“NexTier has done a very good job supplying us,” Sprankle said. “We've never had a problem with that.”

Heidi McDowell, senior vice president retail manager for NexTier, said the bank received notice of the nationwide coin shortage June 12 from the U.S. Federal Reserve System.

“It said we would receive a limited supply of coin,” McDowell said.

The bank's weekly order for coins fluctuates, but it is not unusual for NexTier to order $5,000 or more in quarters each week to distribute among its 29 branches.

“Now, we can order (a maximum of) $1,000 in quarters, $1,000 in dimes, $200 in nickels and $200 in pennies per week,” McDowell said.

On Wednesday, NexTier announced via email and social media that beginning today, customers and noncustomers can cash in their household change without paying a fee.

Normally, NexTier charges a fee of 3 percent of the total dumped into the coin machine for customers and 6 percent for noncustomers.

Now, everyone can bring their buckets, coffee cans and piggy banks full of change to the six NexTier branches that have coin machines and receive bills without paying a fee.

Those branches are at Moraine Pointe Plaza, Zelienople, Cranberry Township, Chicora, Gibsonia and Marshall Township. The latter two locations are in Allegheny County.

According to the Associated Press, the Federal Reserve has explained the shortage and the possible reasons it occurred.

“The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly disrupted the supply chain and normal circulation patterns for U.S. coin,” the Fed said in a recent statement.

The nationwide shortage is a result of two trends.

First, there's been a decrease in business transactions and in the use of coin recyclers, such as Coinstar, meaning there are fewer coins in circulation.

Second, the U.S. Mint reduced the number of employees per shift at its Denver and Philadelphia facilities — which make all the coins for use in the United States — to enhance social distancing.

From January to April, production fell about 35 percent at the U.S. Mint, a bureau of the Treasury Department. In May, the bureau worked mandatory Saturday overtime and offered voluntary Sunday overtime to ramp up production, a spokesman for the Mint said.

It produced 904.1 million coins in May, about a 13 percent increase from the April low, and produced 1.5 billion coins in June. For the rest of 2020, it plans to produce more than 1.35 billion coins a month.

The Fed wants the Mint to maximize coin production and is asking banks to order only the coins they need to meet near-term customer demands. But “these measures alone will not be enough to resolve near-term issues,” according to the Fed.

That's why it's also allocating coins based on banks' past order histories. The Fed expects the shortage to remedy itself as businesses open back up and coin circulation returns to normal.