Why are people scrambling for petrol?

LippyDoodle

TimSynths said:

LippyDoodle said:

troffasky said:

Hopefully someone can come up with a way to panic-buy electricity when we're all driving electric cars.

Love this!  Pity we can't put some gas and electricty in storage now! 

No probs! Tesla Powerwall will sort you out nicely for stored Electricity.

Brill! I'll measure up my wall in the morning 

Reginald74

I would seriously like one of those.

jimjames

Aretnap said:

elsien said:

Because I need to get a couple of hundred miles to get home tomorrow, needed to fill up to get there and I can’t risk the panic buyers getting there first. 

It's one of those irregular verbs.

I need to get petrol. 
You panic buy. 
They are hoarding idiots. 

Exactly this. Everyone thinks their requirement is essential but everyone else is a panic buyer.

Arklight

born_again said:

JIL said:

So there is a lack of drivers?  If half no longer wish to do the job, then it surely follows there is a shortage.

Don't forget that no new HGV drivers entered the market in most of 2020 & till July 2021, as there were no tests due to covid. Thousands of EU drivers went home due to covid. They have clearly decided that living at home is now preferable, as they had the chance to stay in the UK.

Also tanker drivers are a breed apart, not just you average trucker.

Oh, that's why they went home was it? 

Jenni_D

As alluded to previously, you need an additional qualification to be able to driver a fuel (or other chemical) tanker - it's not just any old HGV driver who can legally driver a tanker.

On that basis there have been no previously reported fuel shortage issues since Brexit completed or since the start of COVID ... and there have been no changes to the number of available tanker drivers (subject to holidays, sickness etc.), so the "lack of European drivers" argument is nonsense.

This has been a minor delivery issue to a small handful of stations which has been blown up out of all proportion by the MSM, and this has led to the "panic buying" by the lemmings.

prowla

From the BBC site, the reasons for the HGV drivers shortage is ranked as:

Now, it bears a little more looking at..

• The top cause is "drivers retiring", which is a natural thing; however, the result of it is that we don't seem to have new drivers waiting to take their places, presumably because the industry has been unattractive for some time.
• The UK leaving the EU means that it's also less attractive for EU nationals to come here to work; however, the drivers crisis is also hitting the continent. The idea that EU nationals are going to flock here to fill the gaps is a bit fanciful, as they've probably got vacancies at home. One thing it appears to have done, though is exposed the fact that hauliers were using cheap labour on-tap to undercut the UK workforce; unfortunately, the tap has dried up.
  
• Third on the list is IR35, which is something which successive governments have been ramping up since it was introduced by NuLab as a means of stamping out small enterprises in favour of big business; the current lot have just imposed new measures which have just kicked in and actually make operating as an independent less attractive than simply stepping away. In other industries which are affected by it, it is simply killing the market.
  
• Pay Rates and Drivers going to another industry are closely related; if you have to work long hours and do a stressful job, then there's a tipping point where you say you'd be better off doing something else. We appear to have reached that point.
• Covid-19; well, that's affected pretty much everything. It's interesting that it's only 6th on the list, though.

As for folks filling up their cars:

1. There is no "panic"; if folks are patiently sitting in a queue of 5-10 cars to fill up, then that is not a typical definition of panic.
2. Some people need to fill their cars up 1-2 times a week for work; they may simply have no choice about it.
3. The people filling up are no more "idiots" than those who scoff at them for doing so.
4. Topping up the car on the weekend may be more pragmatic than waiting til the Monday rush-hour to do it.

On the plus side, I have noticed that the roads seem to be a bit quieter these past few days!

Blackjack_Davy

Ibrahim5 said:

jimbo6977 said:

sillyvixen said:

I'm dreading having to fill up - I am hoping everyone has full tanks and things have calmed down by Tuesday, as I have to work in a different location on Wednesday and don't currently have enough petrol to get there!! I don't do a high mileage as I walk to work generally. Hubby filled up on Friday (took 45 minutes) but he drives over 50 miles each way to work daily and I need a full tank in case the problem is ongoing and he needs to use my car at the end of the week to get to work. Several local petrol stations out of fuel today. 

The whole panic seems very location dependent. Drove past several PFS in Lancashire today with no queues whatsoever, all fuels available. 

I have noticed a large North South divide in all the recent panic buying episodes.

It was the same with panic buying food/bogrolls during lockdown daan saaf the shelves were empty  oop north nae bother 

Theres not a filling station within 30 miles of here with any fuel left

sheramber

It was reported Fuel stations in Inverness and surrounding area were queued out. No shortage of fuel as refinery iat Grangemouth has plenty and they have plenty of drivers.

But the media said so. it must be true.

Selfish people rushing out to buy so they can feel proud of themselves as they have a full tank.

Our local Costco had to close mid morning as the queues for fuel were backed up and blocking access,

maisie_cat

sillyvixen said:

I'm dreading having to fill up - I am hoping everyone has full tanks and things have calmed down by Tuesday. 

Me too, we usually fill up once a month and ran low last weekend so we have a full ish tank. Problem is that we have to visit my ill inlaws next week and it's a 600 mile round trip. I actually worried we'll get there and not be able to refill to get back, our car only does around 350-400 miles on a tank

Richard_T_

Hopefully by the time next weekend rolls round everyone will have a full tank/storage.

 when the petrol protests hit last time, I had not long been driving and after that i purchased some small petrol storage containers which will give me just over a weeks worth of fuel.

These petrol tanks are often cycled through to keep the petrol in them relatively fresh