The newspaper headlines are full of the news that fuel is in short supply at many (some?) stations due to supply (hgv driver) issues.
Now I know that everyone here drives EVs but based on the fact that peeps that saw the news tonight or read the papers tomorrow will likely panic buy fuel... I thought I'd post as a heads up. Apparently government was warned by BP amongst others last week but it was banking on the future kicking in and us all moving around on hover-boards.
Some ministers are said to be in favour of allowing foreign hgv drivers in from the EU but business secretary Kwasi Kwarteng just says we need to pay British drivers more... which will make them appear as if by magic! Huzzah!
Good luck out there Road Warriors ... Boris has said there is no need to panic buy so you can draw your own conclusions from that.😉
AHH, that'll explain the huge queue at the local shell when I drove past with the fuel light on today.
Ugh, my tank is empty too
2022 can only get better though, right?
Though I've been saying that for a while now.
Being a fuel tanker driver is a specialist job in a specialist industry so there is always a shortage of them. You need to have your Class 2, then your Class 1 and on top you need your ADR ticket (stands for Accord Dangerous Routier). That's over £3k of training that a lot of people just can't or won't fund themselves. Companies refuse to pay for the training so you end up with a shortage. Yes wages for tanker drivers are more but there's also a lot of pressure that comes with it, from delivery windows to the extra stress from driving the things as they are slow and unwieldy when full.
It's the same issue as for other HGV jobs, lack of investment by companies in driver training, poor wages and poor working conditions mean no-one really wants to do the job.
Oh and please don't panic buy fuel, it will just make the problem worse.
Ah, so a thread advising folks to go out and fill up with fuel whether they need it or not to avoid potential panic buying from people filling up with fuel whether they need it or not?
Cool.
🤔
^^ Thanks bro.
Guess you've never bought a bog roll till you need it either? in which case, im sorry for whom your live with and your porcelain.
Being old fashioned I tend to buy toilet roll and fuel, by definition, before it's needed. You might try this out this new concept my friend.
We have a shortage of super unleaded around our way
Think it’s the E10 thing and because we are rural everyone wanting to fill up their chainsaw’s and lawn mowers
Thanks bro
Safe, fam.
But yeah, the link between stuff like this and the stuff on the news showing empty shelves and reports that there there COULD be panic buying, and then the resultant panic buying, isn't really too much of a stretch to connect now is it?
What would happen if nobody got told there MIGHT be bog roll or fuel shortages by alarmist things in the media and went about purchasing habits as normal?
Probably not much.
Thanks for the warning though. 👍
Tbf it's not going to be like the strikes.... we need drivers but we have needed drivers for years.... nowts changed
Trust me
I'm in the industry
Big thing about a petrol station running out on BBC News last night, really felt for the guy whose wife was due to give birth any moment and obviously needed petrol for that journey, but then they mentioned another petrol station 2 miles down the road had loads.
So not a crisis, but sensationalist reporting could push it that way!
Filled up last night. (Not panic buying, I have to drive a round trip of 450 miles this weekend...)
No queue but half the pumps were out of action and everyone arriving after me was filling jerry cans as well. Was checking on traffic on Google Maps and it has a big spike at the petrol station and a helpful tag of "much busier than usual".
It had quietened down when I went there about 9pm.
new bog roll??????????????
Try not to get it on your skin
https://healthfully.com/treat-diesel-fuel-skin-infection-6515117.html
It's the self locking lollipop of the 24hour news cycle.
The more you report it the more it happens
The editors of these programmes should be ashamed
Maybe I should have done my weekly fill up yesterday but I wanted to get home and get some riding done in that glorious sunshine. Stupid me! Working away next week so will cover a lot of miles
I was sat on the bus reading about this on my commute into Glasgow this morning.
😉
The more you report it the more it happens
The editors of these programmes should be ashamed
Posted 4 minutes ago
This.
Yet the small print in this mornings article announce 10 Esso stations and 2 Tesco stations closed. Not really very many is it, but more will close now as the panicking public rush to the pumps.
In addition to this, Schapps announced that motorway services will be prioritised. That’s right, those ones with more of a markup and therefore tax than your locals station.
So, I have 1/4 tank and am supposed to be on a round trip to London - Cannock this weekend. We’ll see eh.
In addition to this, Schapps announced that motorway services will be prioritised. That’s right, those ones with more of a markup and therefore tax than your locals station.
Tax on fuel remains the same percentage - the end price is simply a factor of a captive market, same as the coffee costs more at a service station Costa than a high street one.
However running out of fuel on the motorway is far more safety critical than running out of fuel on the high street. The latter is an inconvenience but you can probably walk to a nearby garage or easily be recovered. The former is likely to result in a pile up...
It will give our great nation the chance to show our plucky Brexit spirit.
We won't let the EUSSR defeat us.
Etc etc.
Maybe the final Brexit benefits will be better health from being forced to cycle everywhere and better dental health from giving up fizzy sugary drinks.
Some ministers are said to be in favour of allowing foreign hgv drivers in from the EU but business secretary Kwasi Kwarteng just says we need to pay British drivers more… which will make them appear as if by magic! Huzzah!
If only we had some notice of this lack of overseas labour, like around 4 years notice. Haulage and retailers are complicit in this 'shortage'.
Government are responsible for the appalling working conditions where the trampers end up defecating in a carrier bag in the cab because there are not enough truck stops due to council underfunding.
I nearly added ‘telling people not to panic buy petrol’ to yesterday’s ‘what’s mildly annoying you’ thread as I was finding it irritating that they kept repeating it
I’m sure it’ll provide the prompt for Bob and Ada to go and sit in a queue to fill their tank despite it being half full already and them only ever using the car to pop to Asda anyway
Ah, so a thread advising folks to go out and fill up with fuel whether they need it or not to avoid potential panic buying from people filling up with fuel whether they need it or not?
Didn't read that on the thread. Typically there is the least amount of petrol at my house possible.
I've not filled the mower Jerry can as I just want to use the last up for the year. Our elderly Astra is fine on E10 but on fumes due to the queues yesterday
My 944t can only run on super and is low on fuel.
Not the end of the world as neither car are used for commuting.
I had to ride to the next village to fill up the motorbike yesterday as our own filling station had no petrol, only diesel. It's always a squeeky bum time with the motorbike as "reserve" is only around 15 miles.
Sunlight uplands and blue passports.
What more do you lot expect?
Oh no, I only have 5 miles left according to the clock...
I love cycling past the petrolstation when it’s queued. Just shout out “Infinity MPG GIRUY” 🤪
But I fORT cOZ SomewUN 80 YeARS aGO HaD bombz DroPPED oN tHEm We WuZ GOnnA B ok
Its the panic that will cause the shortage, here's snippets of the quote from Schapps this morning:
The energy giant said tens of forecourts in its 1,200-strong network were experiencing shortages - blamed on the nationwide lack of HGV drivers - while rival Esso said a few of its sites were affected.
Tesco said two of the 500 petrol stations it operates were currently affected, describing the impact as minimal and ensuring that supply is replenished whenever this happens.
Speaking to Kay Burley, Grant Shapps said the shortage of drivers should "smooth out fairly quickly" as more HGV driving tests have been made available.
"What I can tell you is yesterday, as of last night, five petrol stations on the BP network of 1,200 to 1,300 were affected.
Not real very many, is it?
Can t you fill up on sovereignety ?
Not real very many, is it?
I bet it's a lot more by the end of today.
Idiots all the way down.
Including me for posting on this thread and helping keep it on the front page.
It is a crisis. I heard that some ministers are having to use their wife's second Range Rover to visit their mistress so they still had enough fuel in theirs to visit the golf.
You know, if they announced a zombie apocalypse and they started running/shuffling past my door, I think I'd just carry on drinking my tea...
Oh no! What are we all going to do? Will the country grind to a halt? How one earth can I be expected to get to work now???????
(typed as I am sitting at home preparing for the first Zoom meeting of the day)
On a completely unrelated note, it's the 20th anniversary of the 2001 fuel protests (aka, "well the French did it last week and it looks like a laugh so why don't we?"). Simply cannot imagine that the press would take advantage of that fact to run some news stories...
Good:
I filled the car at Costco the other day - should be 700 miles range
Bad:
I'm bringing the boat back from the coast this weekend which will use a lot of fuel
Good:
The boat's got about 40 gallons of E5 unleaded in it I could use
Bad:
My car's a diesel
😫
{Could put it in the wife's car though!}
Bloody media hype.... Does nothing but cause problems.
I'm sure people won't panic buy....
“What I can tell you is yesterday, as of last night, five petrol stations on the BP network of 1,200 to 1,300 were affected.
Well, one was in Aviemore. I wonder where the other four were?
Not real very many, is it?
No but I bet you there are going to be a lot more run out of fuel today due to the irresponsible messaging.
"Dont panic buy" automatically translates for many people as "get buying now and then buy another ten years supply on top".
Wonder if some poor sods are going to lose their lives this time round due to the panic. Buying too many toilet rolls just fills up the garage but if someone has gone and got that old jerry can and filled it up could be rather more damaging.
Not judging and just using it as an example - but assuming that the round trip in the car from London to Cannock is to ride a bike round a circuit does make you think we haven’t quite got this right have we? I know relatively there are plenty worse things. Perhaps we need better bike parks in the chilterns!
Amazon should start delivering fuel boxes with the bog roll!
Well, one was in Aviemore
That doesn't surprise me. I think it'll probably be the rural or more remote from the supply hub that'll be in the back of the queue for planning deliveries.
Sunlit uplands and blue passports.What more do you lot expect?
FTFY.
my car reckons it's got about 400 miles worth in the tank. Which should last me til about the end of October.
So hopefully it's all calmed down by then!
The queue wasn't too bad as I panic bought fuel this morning. It was getting longer though and jerry cans were in evidence.
# crisis what crisis? #
# winter of discontent #
Just been out panic buying fuel. Can confirm, my local Shell was slightly busier than usual. No queue at all, but one usually has a choice of pumps and today there was only one or two available!
It's hell out there.
Didn't a woman blow her eyebrows off or something after filling Tupperwares up with petrol during the last fuel panic-buy?
So how many people posting on this thread are filling up a bit earlier than they otherwise might because they're worried about "the public" panicking?
Well, one was in Aviemore
And one was in Sherborne, according to the news last night. Just 3 more to find!
It's easy to criticise panic-buying, but there is a snowball effect as soon as it starts. I have to get my lad and all his stuff to uni on Sunday, so I filled up this morning in case there is a problem by the weekend, thus becoming part of the problem...
It's like people who moan about traffic while sitting in a queue. And why it is the job of government to maintain confidence in the supply chain, because as soon as there is a hint of doubt, human behaviour will take over.
So how many people posting on this thread are filling up a bit earlier than they otherwise might because they’re worried about “the public” panicking?
Nope.
It is the problem though. At a certain point, if you will be needing the panic commodity soon, then it becomes rational to join in. Although just with the topping up the tank rather than filling a bin with it.
I do have some concerns for this weekend where I have a long drive. As it happens not far off full but will have look to fill up on the way since wont be far off empty when I get there. Hopefully the panic buyers will have got bored by the end of the day and there will be enough deliveries to allow things to recover.
The media really deserve a slap for stoking the panic. Turning a "there may be minor disruptions at a handful of stations and you might need to pop to the next one" into a "PANIC. No we said dont PANIC".
Being at the end of the supply chain in Shetland it is a bit worrying. Though bloody annoying as most of the oil and gas comes through here, it's just not processed for fuel here 🙄
So how many people posting on this thread are filling up a bit earlier than they otherwise might because they’re worried about “the public” panicking?
No, I woke up this am to find mine had been fully fuelled overnight
So how many people posting on this thread are filling up a bit earlier than they otherwise might because they’re worried about “the public” panicking?
I don't even drive. I just wanted some petrol because everyone else wanted it and why should I go without. Eh?
Yesterday was a crap day for the fuel light to come on - made me look like a panic buyer when I shoved in £50.01 (dammit!) worth of derv this morning.
One BP was in Worcester, saw a camera crew setting up outside as we drove past yesterday evening. Tbf, the garage we went to to fill up (needed it, we were in the redest of the red!) had plenty, 2 miles away.
Yesterday was a crap day for the fuel light to come on – made me look like a panic buyer when I shoved in £50.01 (dammit!) worth of derv this morning.
Amateur effort. The real panic buyers are topping up their tanks with £4.37 worth and filling up their tupperware.
ordered a e-nero last week....arrives next Friday \o/
Chrispy finally lands on the right side of a government made crisis.
🙂
So how many people posting on this thread are filling up a bit earlier than they otherwise might because they’re worried about “the public” panicking?
Nope. We stuck £15 in yesterday cos we were out and about anyway and that'll have to last as long as it needs to. We're lucky in that we work from home (have done for the last 10-odd years) and Lidl's only a mile or so away though.
There be people queuing for fuel at the local tesco, at least a couple of them had the sense to turn back instead of blocking the roundabout as well...
Fingers crossed there'll be plenty of esso synergy supreme locally to keep the old cars and bikes running at Kop Hill this w/e
Yeah, I hate having my car in the red but equally if I can avoid spending £60 in one go I will do and because I rarely drive much it's quite easy for it just to gradually trickle down or be left on 1/4 tank for ages before it needs filling. I should go back to how I used to run it when I drove more which was routinely filling it up from half full, specifically to avoid situations of being out in the back of beyond and limited to only a couple of expensive petrol stations.
And then you get into the efficiency arguments about carrying a full tank of fuel around with you...
So how many people posting on this thread are filling up a bit earlier than they otherwise might because they’re worried about “the public” panicking?
Nope - we don't have anywhere to go that is urgent, we have a reasonable amount of fuel in both cars (and I did just fill a jerry can but that was 'cos I had run out of fuel for the mower and the grass needs doing).
But I can 100% see why people will now start filling up 'just in case'. It is human nature.
I might go and charge the motor up at the free charge place scotland charger down the road and have a coffee whilst I wait #smug
And then you get into the efficiency arguments about carrying a full tank of fuel around with you…
Oh hi dad, didn't know you were on STW?
Are petrol prices at £2 a litre yet?
Thankfully one bullet I can dodge, in all the good news of sunny UK uplands coiming home to roost recently.
Aviemore
Sherborne
Worcester
Can we find three more?
Oh hi dad, didn’t know you were on STW?
Roll your window up! Don't you know what that does to your fuel economy?
So how many people posting on this thread are filling up a bit earlier than they otherwise might because they’re worried about “the public” panicking?
Not me. Mrs K put £15 of diesel in hers to get through the next 2 weeks of school runs and £30 will do mine for the weekend return trip to Cannock.
My car's been empty for a week. I need fuel for next weekends lads MTB weekend in Wales though. I'll just have to cycle to work again, like this week.
Fuel light is flashing as it has been since we returned from Scotland Monday and mine is somewhere near the red, although that only vaguely indicates level depending on it's mood.
Apparently every petrol station locally has massive queues this morning so I guess the "don't panic buy" message didn't get through here! I've got half a tank of diesel & no need to drive anywhere for the next couple of weeks at least so will probably just sit this one out 😃
No, I woke up this am to find mine had been fully fuelled overnight
What it is to have staff! Is that you Flashheart? ICMFP
EDIT: In other news supplies of popcorn are said to be running low in mainland Europe!
For info, you can go at least 30 miles past the trip computer "point of no return" on a Volvo V90 diesel. Fuel pump makes an unpleasant noise though.
Have an electric car now. Was smug when it snowed and I had winter tyres fitted but this is new level of smugness.
What it is to have staff! Is that you Flashheart?
No, I plugged it in last night and it was fully charged this am.
Just been to dosome shopping
I can confirm panic buying in full effect in Hampshire
4 petrol stations, all queues out and down the road
Maybe 6 to 10 cars in each direction. Plus a rammed forcourt with 10 + cars fuelling up.
This then extends a traffic jam for maybe 100yrds in each direction as you cannot overtake as the queue waiting in the oncoming lane has made that stationary too.
Needless to say i added to this by driving when i could have ridden to the shops and filling up with 60ltr of dino juice
I can pretty confidently say there will be empty petrol stations in the wilds of Hampshire by the end of the day
And its mostly old codgers,who are retired and me on my week off work
Have you got an EV then Drac?
Only I don't think you've mentioned it before.
Only I don’t think you’ve mentioned it before.
🤭
15 minute wait to get fuel at Sainsburys in Sheffield. Similar size queue outside the Tesco. I've got to go to Birmingham for work on Sunday - had enough in the tank to get me there, but not home again.
(Would be much nicer to take the train, but I need to take my own bodyweight's worth of tools and equipment with me).
I reckon by this evening there *will* be a fuel crisis...!
I reckon by this evening there *will* be a fuel crisis…!
We're very likely there already.
I wonder how many people filling up are still working from home? I couldn't give a monkeys about how much petrol is in my car as it barely moves nowadays anyway
