Why are people scrambling for petrol?

neilmcl

JIL said:

I actually think it's all a big ploy.

The government as per usual are dithering on the lack of HGV drivers, with little or no action. 

So BP shut a few petrol stations and get the media involved. Mass panic, big queues, people moaning and the government forced to act.

There's no lack of qualified HGV drivers, the problem is the pay and conditions have been that bad for many years nearly half of them no longer want to do the job and we've been relying on cheap, foreign labour for too long. The haulage industry are just as much to blame than the government.

DB1904

sheslookinhot said:

The desperation for fuel among the idiots knows no bounds. Sadly these folks are all around us. What would their behaviour be like in a crisis ?

We have just recently came out of lockdowns where people were urged to stay at home, work from home etc. If you don’t have fuel, simply don’t use your car.

Many couldn't stay at home, couldn't work from home and would have difficulty in getting to work without a car. 

Grumpy_chap

born_again said:

there are 8000+ petrol stations in the UK.
Some one on the news last night said they had tried two petrol stations to get fuel & been turned away.. Great reporting, but plenty more stations to try....

That won't work - an individual would need to fill up several times to get round all 8k petrol stations...

TimSynths

Jenni_D said:

I agree that MSM are (at least partially) the cause of the problem - if they didn't blast exaggerated headlines about fuel shortages then people wouldn't panic buy (so much). 🙄

I smiled at the name of the BBC reporter live on TV this morning at a BP station with all the pumps disabled ... he was Philip McCann 😁

Me too- brilliant!

motorguy

fatbelly said:

By good fortune I filled up both cars a few days ago so it will be a couple of weeks before we need fuel and by then the nonsense should be over

Same here.  Our main car needed a fill on Thursday so did that.  That will last us six weeks or so.  Our second car, i filled it yesterday and that will likely last it to christmas.

motorguy

neilmcl said:

JIL said:

I actually think it's all a big ploy.

The government as per usual are dithering on the lack of HGV drivers, with little or no action. 

So BP shut a few petrol stations and get the media involved. Mass panic, big queues, people moaning and the government forced to act.

There's no lack of qualified HGV drivers, the problem is the pay and conditions have been that bad for many years nearly half of them no longer want to do the job and we've been relying on cheap, foreign labour for too long. The haulage industry are just as much to blame than the government.

With rising wages required to fill these job roles and many others like them, i think we're in for a lot more rising prices to cover the increased costs.

ontheroad1970

born_again said:

It's not the media's fault. They have just reported that BP said that a handful of their stations were closed as they could not get fuel to them.
And just who pays their inflated prices.. 9p Ltr more than supermarket for base petrol round here..

The fault is with the lemmings that are now rushing to fill up. Oblivious to the fact that there are 8000+ petrol stations in the UK.
Some one on the news last night said they had tried two petrol stations to get fuel & been turned away.. Great reporting, but plenty more stations to try....

Perhaps get a staff  member out and anyone with more than 1/2 tank gets turned away. Or tell them, Yes you can fill up but there is a min charge of £50.
But given price has gone up anyway in the last two days.. These lemmings are paying too much anyway. So laugh is with the people who are not rushing out to fill up.

You obviously didn't see the headline in The Sun yesterday,  then - "Running on Empty"  Irresponsible and counterproductive.

Brie

@born_again
I hope they don't insist on a £50 minimum!  Even if my car was empty and needed to be pushed to the petrol station I couldn't put that much in it!  I would completely understand a maximum as has happened in previous panics.

But I do understand people being concerned about getting enough petrol to get to work etc.  Much more understandable than all the idiots that blocked the roads queued up to buy from MacD's a few months back!!  

Grumpy_chap

I am not sure how a "minimum" charge would work. 

If the minimum was set at, say £20, but you filled up and only put £15 in, you've done the small fill in any case.  I suppose they could then apply a "minimum order charge" but I doubt the pumps / tills are configured for that kind of thing to be implemented swiftly.

As @Brie mentions, £50 minimum could be too high for many with smaller cars.

cattom

I'm not scrambling about queuing up for ages to get fuel. I got 3/4 tank of diesel and that will last me well into next month. if then I can not get fuel, I will text my boss, and tell him I can't get to work as I have no fuel. simple as.