Fuel Blockade

peter999

aardvaak wrote: »

Is there a fuel blockade starting?

I tonight went to several petrol stations in Ipswich Suffolk and all run out of fuel.

That's strange, in last few weeks I have also noticed petrol stations with pumps out of fuel.

peter999

Billg4wmq

My daughter has just returned after filling up at her local Shell garage at Blaydon near Newcastle and was told that a blockade is going to happen on Monday 3 Dec. Has anyone else heard that?
If it's true will someone please give Gordon Brown the number for the Samaritins!

Markyt

peter999 wrote: »

That's strange, in last few weeks I have also noticed petrol stations with pumps out of fuel.

Thats a combination of two things:

1) Petrol stations only filling the tanks half full, so they don't have to fork out as much while prices are high / while they wait for them to drop
2) Lemming motorists who, hearing rumours of shortages, go and fill the car, top it up every 5 minutes, and fill the shed, bath kettle and anything else they can think of with petrol 'just in case the rumpurs are true'.

vikingaero

Markyt wrote: »

Thats a combination of two things:

2) Lemming motorists who, hearing rumours of shortages, go and fill the car, top it up every 5 minutes, and fill the shed, bath kettle and anything else they can think of with petrol 'just in case the rumpurs are true'.

Last time there was the threat of a blockade I went to my local Tesco to fill up (my car really was empty and I did need fuel). Anyway alongside me was an old Nissan. The drivers wife was holding the rear door open in some attempt to shield the shenanigans from the forecourt clerk inside the shop, and he was filling a transparent tank inside the vehicle. The tank filled the boot and the folded down rear seats so it was quite voluminous.

The forecourt clerk didn't bat an eyelid when he charged the man £150 for fuel. Maybe he thought it was a truck or something. The man left and I paid and walked back to my car to see him start up his engine and then light a cigarette!............ :eek::D

anewman

vikingaero wrote: »

The forecourt clerk didn't bat an eyelid when he charged the man £150 for fuel. Maybe he thought it was a truck or something. The man left and I paid and walked back to my car to see him start up his engine and then light a cigarette!............ :eek::D

And I thought seeing a woman filling an empty 2 litre coke bottle with petrol was bad.

Voyager2002

I feel smug about this, since I rely on my bicycle. Anyone who worries about fuel prices should do the same. I mean, taking the car into a city centre to do Christmas shopping is just plain daft.

An increase in fuel prices is excellent news: there are far too many cars on the road, mostly doing short journeys that could be done on foot. And if a few inefficient businesses go under, that will just give more work to those who can do the job more efficiently. Road hauliers are a good example: most of their work should be done by the railways, and my hope is that if fuel stays at a realistically high level, that is precisely what will happen.

Crabman

Voyager2002 wrote: »

I feel smug about this, since I rely on my bicycle. Anyone who worries about fuel prices should do the same. I mean, taking the car into a city centre to do Christmas shopping is just plain daft.

An increase in fuel prices is excellent news: there are far too many cars on the road, mostly doing short journeys that could be done on foot. And if a few inefficient businesses go under, that will just give more work to those who can do the job more efficiently. Road hauliers are a good example: most of their work should be done by the railways, and my hope is that if fuel stays at a realistically high level, that is precisely what will happen.

All the increase in prices does is cause more hardship among those who are less able to absorb higher expenses. The fact is most of us use cars because we HAVE to, not becase we WANT to. I don't fancy cycling 35 miles to Birmingham each weekend & the train fare is double my petrol & parking costs put together! :eek:

We need a decent network of cycle lanes in this country - I would not ride on the road with nutters in their cars not even noticing you and possibly causing injury/worse - not long ago a guy was crushed under an HGV as it turned left and "didn't see him". I wouldn't save a couple of quid to risk my life on two wheels.

anewman

Voyager2002 wrote: »

I feel smug about this, since I rely on my bicycle. Anyone who worries about fuel prices should do the same. I mean, taking the car into a city centre to do Christmas shopping is just plain daft.

I agree with the sentiments about short journeys. How many parents take their kids to school in the car when actually getting in, belting up (some even not doing this as they're so lazy), driving there just round the corner, then getting out - when it takes the same amount of time, or little less time than actually walking? Far too many I imagine. If I do any short journeys I try to do them all at once. It helps save fuel and wear on the car. So I'll go to one shop/place then try shop quickly and drive on to the next destination.

Certainly in Leeds City Centre parking costs more than the bus, so I'll never understand why people *have* to drive into Leeds, or all the people fighting over "free" spaces as close to the city centre as possible, in some cases parking within controlled zones on grass verge because other people do and the space is there (was great walking past there when the traffic warden was there booking them all, but they obviously don't do it enough to stop them doing it). Thing that really gets my beef up about the illegal parkers parking somewhere free is they are all nice expensive cars, if they can afford the cars and to drive into Leeds, they can afford the parking. I'm lucky enough to live within walking distance of the city.

Won't hauliers simply charge more for their services (with good justification)? Won't people do without other things if they feel they *really* need to use the car and pay for petrol instead. All it does is increase tax revenue.

Some people live far away from public transport and a bicycle ride for 40 miles isn't viable. You come across as a motorist hating bicyclist who doesn't own a car though The highways are for everyone and without motorists paying road tax the roads wouldn't be there for the bicycles. There is of course the argument that the road network capacity should be increased - which however much fuel tax goes up is never going to go away.

anewman

Crabman wrote: »

We need a decent network of cycle lanes in this country - I would not ride on the road with nutters in their cars not even noticing you and possibly causing injury/worse - not long ago a guy was crushed under an HGV as it turned left and "didn't see him". I wouldn't save a couple of quid to risk my life on two wheels.

Yeah - how many cycle lanes have you seen which run for only like 10 metres or less, there's the picture of a cycle, then there's a big "END". What a waste of time and money painting those up.

Cumbrian_Male

Keep an eye on https://www.transaction-2007.com for any planned action.

You need to register to view, and it's the same people who organised the 2000 blockades.