Why are people scrambling for petrol?

tr7phil

Thesaltmustflow said:

tr7phil said:

Thesaltmustflow said:

JustAnotherSaver said:

Thesaltmustflow said:

JustAnotherSaver said:

I can't stand people. So chuffing stupid.

If you're a 1/4 tank then you could be forgiven for needing some juice.

If you're at 3/4 tank then i don't care if you're about to set off on a 300 mile journey, you don't need to fuel up right now.

And you most certainly don't need to be emptying water bottles in a bin to then fill them up after having filled your car up. The woman that did that wants slapping in the face with those bottles.

Stations are getting absolutely hammered and only a few have sold out around here. That goes to show how much of a 'shortage' there's been - naff all.

Back in the first lockdown people stopped going places and fuel ended up dropping approx 10p per litre. Lot of money not getting spent.

What's all this madness done right now? Pushed the price up.

Claws back a bit of what wasn't spent.

But may be totally nothing to do with that and everything could be all so innocent.

Or not.

More like 30p a litre, I remember it being around 99.7p for unleaded and now it's around 1.40 up from 1.30 at the start of the 'non-event' fuel shortage.

You're talking to a guy who keeps tally of his fill ups so I can (for example) tell you that on 16th June 2007 diesel cost me 93.9p. Not only that but the car I was on had just hit 116,557 miles.

So I know what it was costing

Granted there are other places in the UK. This isn't like the weather where the media release some statement that applies to London only & blanket the entire UK with whatever is going on in London.

To give specifics, I fuelled up 15th March 2020 when fuel was £1.21.9 at Shell.

Lockdown/Furlough hit about the 24th IIRC. I'm not to a few days so I may be a little out on that but I can't be bothered to check. I wont be too far out.

I fuelled up on 9th April at £1.12.9 and again 2nd May at £1.09.9 so ok I was out with my 10p but I did say approx.

Most certainly wasn't 30p ..... not here. But then as I don't live anywhere else, I can only speak for here.

And I can only speak for here...........

I case anyone is interested, regular unleaded minimum and maximum prices per litre at Tesco, Chelmsford, Essex:-

2010  £1.099 to £1.189
2011  £1.239 to £1.389
2012  £1.259 to £1.399
2013  £1.269 to £1.399
2014  £1.149 to £1.289
2015  £1.099 to £1.139
2016  £1.079 to £1.099
2017  £1.099 to £1.159
2018  £1.129 to £1.339
2019  £1.109 to £1.239
2020  £1.079 to £1.239
2021  £1.269 to £1.339

If memory serves (and I don't take a lot of notice tbf) Unleaded was around 99.7p a litre round about the start of the 'pandemic' so that would be (I think) Mar-Apr 20? in Stockport, Gtr Manchester, I do remember seeing it and commenting to OH about not seeing price under a £1 a litre for a long time. It was on one of the forecourt displays at an Asda that I pass regularly and use a few times too. 

Just goes to show how different prices can be around the country.

Bear in mind that these are my own personal fill ups, it may have been cheaper or more expensive at some point. The cheapest I saw at this fuel station in 2020 was £1.039 but I didn't need to fill up, I did wonder whether it would go down below £1 but alas no.

prowla

Bigphil1474 said:

Would be interesting to know what the difference is between panic buying and being prepared.

One person's "panic" is another's "pragmatic".

molerat

Where are all these price rises ?  Petrol here has gone up 1p in some places.

Bit of a scrabble in Tesco this morning, half the pumps had cars at them, nearly panicked and thought I had better fill up but my community spirit got the better of me (plus I have only done 38 miles since I last filled up)

All this is purely self inflicted by the idiots - a handful of petrol stations run out and the whole country descends into chaos.  One comment I have seen is that at least the hoarding storage capacity is limited unlike with bog rolls !

Jenni_D

I filled up* at the local Esso last Wednesday at £1.37.9 per litre for diesel. As I headed off on the planned journey on Saturday I passed the Esso and diesel was £1.39.9 per litre ... so a 2p rise in a few days.

* Well, to the £35 max they were permitting

born_again

BBC still st the media scare stories..
20% of South East petrol stations out of fuel....

What was wrong with "80% of South East petrol stations have fuel" and put a stop to muppets filling up when they do not need to.

How many people other than delivery drivers do 200+ miles a day & need to fill up everyday?
Even then most cars have at least 300 miles range on a tank.

jimjames

born_again said:

BBC still st the media scare stories..
20% of South East petrol stations out of fuel....

Funny how this issue seems to generate BBC bashing when the original story was reported by ITV

Blackjack_Davy

born_again said:

BBC still st the media scare stories..
20% of South East petrol stations out of fuel....

What was wrong with "80% of South East petrol stations have fuel" and put a stop to muppets filling up when they do not need to.

How many people other than delivery drivers do 200+ miles a day & need to fill up everyday?
Even then most cars have at least 300 miles range on a tank.

Because 80% don't have it thats why. I've no idea where they get the 80% from but its nonsense around here I passed 5 filling stations tonight and 1 has fuel and its been like that for over a week now the most I've seen has been 2 and long queues. Everything else is bone dry.

Its not a "lets rush out and panic buy" its a basic problem of not enough fuel getting to where its needed the "just in time" system is the problem its ok when demand stays the same but if something upsets it it can't cope even if people are buying normally there simply isn't enough deliveries to top up the already depleted stocks. Stations aren't full of fuel they operate at 40% capacity at best

If you ask me where its all gone I'd say its outsiders tourists who fill up before heading back to wherever they came now the fine weather has gone maybe there will be some left for locals

ontheroad1970

Blackjack_Davy said:

born_again said:

BBC still st the media scare stories..
20% of South East petrol stations out of fuel....

What was wrong with "80% of South East petrol stations have fuel" and put a stop to muppets filling up when they do not need to.

How many people other than delivery drivers do 200+ miles a day & need to fill up everyday?
Even then most cars have at least 300 miles range on a tank.

Because 80% don't have it thats why. I've no idea where they get the 80% from but its nonsense around here I passed 5 filling stations tonight and 1 has fuel and its been like that for over a week now the most I've seen has been 2 and long queues. Everything else is bone dry.

Its not a "lets rush out and panic buy" its a basic problem of not enough fuel getting to where its needed the "just in time" system is the problem its ok when demand stays the same but if something upsets it it can't cope even if people are buying normally there simply isn't enough deliveries to top up the already depleted stocks. Stations aren't full of fuel they operate at 40% capacity at best

If you ask me where its all gone I'd say its outsiders tourists who fill up before heading back to wherever they came now the fine weather has gone maybe there will be some left for locals

Glad you're not my accountant.  20% out of fuel is not 80%.

Jenni_D

I think the point being made was that they don't believe that 80% of filling stations in the SE had fuel - they believe it was much less.

Norman_Castle

Sea_Shell said:

Thesaltmustflow said:

Sea_Shell said:

The other thing that has occurred to me during this whole issue, is that you can't really help anyone else with this, directly.

Unless you are insured to drive their car, you can't really just get some for someone else, while you're out, like you could a pint of milk or a loaf of bread.  They have to be able to get it themselves.

You can't buy £20 worth and lend your neighbour £10 worth when you get home!

What if you really are out of fuel, and don't have a Petrol station within walking distance?, but then they've probably sold out of cans too!!!    You can't just order some on-line with Amazon, like you can with almost ever other product!

They also can't set up temporary local dispensaries, like they can for mains water if they have a problem.

What?

You could order a jerry can off Amazon and give it to your neighbour to fill up for you at the fuel station, I suppose it depends on how quickly you need fuel and how well you get on with your neighbour/s but I don't see anyone 'having' no other choice than to get fuel themselves

Filling up a jerry can, plus your own car!!!! 

You'll be seen as the devil's spawn!!! 🤣   Unless you plan on wearing a t-shirt that says "I'm buying this for my friend!!"

I'm close to the red but haven't used the car for over a week. Going out today, I've put a fuel can in the boot in case its needed. Question, if you were in a fuel queue would you let someone fill a fuel can or make them stand in the queue?