Why are people scrambling for petrol?

Jenni_D

jimjames said:

[Deleted User] said:

The government said there was no shortage. The government lies all the time so people assumed there was a shortage.

It's so bad people have got used to doing the opposite to what the government tells them to, after a million lies and some terrible COVID advice.

On the one hand the government said there was no shortage at refineries yet BP and others had said they were struggling to keep petrol stations fully stocked and there is a known shortage of drivers. Not much use having supplies in a central location if you can't get them where they are needed 

There's been a drastic reduction in tanker-qualified drivers in the past couple of weeks versus all the time since Brexit took full effect? Really? (It's not just any HGV driver who can drive fuel/chemical tankers).

I beg to differ.  

[Deleted User]

I imagine it has taken a while to get this close to the edge, building up. Not far over the edge and we cannot supply the garages. If industry has been warning the government for some time, how much else has BoJo been keeping quiet about. You can bet the government has been spinning this away for some time if anyone got close. They cannot associate any issues with their pet con.

silverwhistle

Jenni_D said:

There's been a drastic reduction in tanker-qualified drivers in the past couple of weeks versus all the time since Brexit took full effect? Really? (It's not just any HGV driver who can drive fuel/chemical tankers).

The system works on small margins: it doesn't have to be a drastic reduction for the knock-on effects we're seeing. A cluster of sick leave, some booked holiday, drivers not doing voluntary overtime. Any system which has only small contingency built in or is already operating at full capacity will suffer. You can beg to differ all you like but we have seen it time and time again in a variety of contexts.

JIT and 100% load factors only work if all the components work smoothly.

Jenni_D

silverwhistle said:

Jenni_D said:

There's been a drastic reduction in tanker-qualified drivers in the past couple of weeks versus all the time since Brexit took full effect? Really? (It's not just any HGV driver who can drive fuel/chemical tankers).

The system works on small margins: it doesn't have to be a drastic reduction for the knock-on effects we're seeing. A cluster of sick leave, some booked holiday, drivers not doing voluntary overtime. Any system which has only small contingency built in or is already operating at full capacity will suffer. You can beg to differ all you like but we have seen it time and time again in a variety of contexts.

JIT and 100% load factors only work if all the components work smoothly.

I accept what you're saying, but any change was marginal in the UK-wide scheme of things, and the fuel supply issue was localised. It was only when the media got involved that all hell broke loose and it became a self-fulfilling prophesy.

Grumpy_chap

I am actually getting rather anxious over all this through FOMO.

I have been thinking about syphoning the fuel out of the car just to make room so I can go and join all the action

Penelopa.Pitstop

In my area (East Surrey), most stations have no fuel or there's a queue. Not sure how long are the queues, because they cause traffic queues, so I don't even go there to check. Yesterday, I passed 4 empty petrol stations and then turned around before long queue in East Grinstead. Today had to go on back roads, to avoid queues around petrol stations.

So, unless I go at some unsociable hour, I don't think, I will be able to top up petrol. And my friend in Reading says her local petrol station at supermarket is open and there are no queues.

elsien

Grumpy_chap said:

I am actually getting rather anxious over all this through FOMO.

I have been thinking about syphoning the fuel out of the car just to make room so I can go and join all the action

I have a jerry can or three I can lend for a small fee? 

deejaybee

I'm in South Devon, a station i passed while working only had diesel, although i spoke to one of my customers about it,and she said they are getting regular deliveries, but that no-one is really panic buying now, helps that most of the tourists have gone now as well.

I got some unleaded ok in my local town, the station was a bit busier than normal, but i only waited about 5 minutes to get to a pump.

Should have enough for rest of this week and all next week now, by which time all the idiots will have wound their necks in hopefully..

Wish there was a way we could stick it to the media for kicking all this off.

Thesaltmustflow

deejaybee said:

I'm in South Devon, a station i passed while working only had diesel, although i spoke to one of my customers about it,and she said they are getting regular deliveries, but that no-one is really panic buying now, helps that most of the tourists have gone now as well.

I got some unleaded ok in my local town, the station was a bit busier than normal, but i only waited about 5 minutes to get to a pump.

Should have enough for rest of this week and all next week now, by which time all the idiots will have wound their necks in hopefully..

Wish there was a way we could stick it to the media for kicking all this off.

There is, stop watching! especially the BBC and Sky news.

scrappy_returns

Grumpy_chap said:

I am actually getting rather anxious over all this through FOMO.

I have been thinking about syphoning the fuel out of the car just to make room so I can go and join all the action

If a full tank lasts you from July to October and beyond maybe you should just sell your car?