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Post by bryan on Sept 25, 2021 21:34:55 GMT
We had Claire's Nanna memorial meal today in Chelmsford, so I despatched Claire at 630am to fill it up on Friday morning as soon as I saw the headlines, cause I thought people would be twats....
We've just got back with under a 1/4 tank, which wouldn't normally be an issue as we can use the leccy for local driving, but I'm off to Swindon on Monday so went to the only station with fuel in Ilkeston to fill up, queued for about 5mins at 2200!
The twat In front of me put about £15 diesel in his car and then filled a watering can with petrol! 😳😳🤬
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Post by Alex on Sept 26, 2021 5:46:19 GMT
It is astonishing seeing some of the pictures of people filling up multiple Jerry cans or loading their boots with several large chemical bottles full of petrol. Firstly you have to wonder why on earth they feel the need hoard so much fuel. The report that BP leaked was of a few filling stations closing. How did these people hear that and translate it to mean that the country's pumps would all run dry? Secondly you have to wonder what they plan to do with all the fuel? Assuming their worst fears are realised and the UK has no petrol for sale for months are they going to be carefully rationing it out to theirs and their loved ones cars? How do these morons think the situation is going to play out? Unfortunately we'll never know as they're probably hidden away in the nuclear bunker at the end of their gardens arguing over who gets to have today's sheet from the 1000 bog rolls they stocked up on last March.
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Post by Martin on Sept 26, 2021 6:09:20 GMT
This was on SKY news…..  |
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Post by Andy C on Sept 26, 2021 6:50:19 GMT
Cov is a joke . I needed to be at Jackson’s by 12 yesterday. The wife’s RAV4 Had about 20miles range , so needed to fill up in Cov. We left about 10, and I had the mechanic on the phone about 11 asking if I was coming . I had to explain that i was still in Cov , looking for fuel . I’d been to 3 or 4 stations , and they were either all out of diesel or shut all together
Eventually managed to get some on the a45 services by Birmingham
Airport .
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Post by alf on Sept 26, 2021 7:26:13 GMT
I’m astonished how fast this developed - everything here was totally closed by the afternoon yesterday. How can they even sell out so fast? Presumably - unlike last time - resupply is happening, but how fast? I really need a tankful in the Jag to make the most important meetings I’ve had in months, on Tuesday….
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Post by Alex on Sept 26, 2021 10:27:34 GMT
Going to the gym and then on to the big Tesco this morning I've passed 5 filling stations and the good news is that the panic buying is over. None of the 5 had any queues whatsoever. The bad news is that this was because all 5 were dryer than a student bar at the end of pound-a-pint night!
I think most people will now all have a full tank and so won't need to go out and refuel for the next few days at least and supply will return to normal by the end of the week with most big stations, especially those on busy A roads and motorways, being refilled by Mobday morning. They will then still be busier than usual for a week or so but hopefully even those returning for more after their panic refill yesterday will only be topping up with a quarter of a tank at most so although there will be a queue they won't suck the place dry.
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Post by Alex on Sept 26, 2021 10:28:49 GMT
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Post by Martin on Sept 26, 2021 10:46:27 GMT
That’s because the actual BBC reporter that was sent to get the story was Phil McCann! |
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Post by ChrisM on Sept 26, 2021 11:30:17 GMT
I’m astonished how fast this developed - everything here was totally closed by the afternoon yesterday. How can they even sell out so fast? Presumably - unlike last time - resupply is happening, but how fast? I really need a tankful in the Jag to make the most important meetings I’ve had in months, on Tuesday…. Never mind business meetings, my wife has an important hospital appointment later in the week at a not-so-local hospital and needs fuel to get there - as do the hospital staff, doctors, care workers, firemen etc etc. It's almost criminal negligence for someone to have reported that a few petrol stations were out of fuel - in the current climate what did they expect would happen? Of course the public would react like they did to "toilet paper gate" last February-March. I've been out for a walk this morning and my local garage is now sold out of all fuel, still quite a few cars turning in on the off-chance; at least they have turned off the huge external price display signs unlike all the other garages I passed yesterday who had already sold out |
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Post by Deleted on Sept 26, 2021 12:20:55 GMT
The news organs are there to hype the nooz. Happens every time anything is less than ideal. It seems chasing of ratings beats the living crap out of impartial reporting every time.
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Post by Bob Sacamano v2.0 on Sept 27, 2021 7:41:48 GMT
Sometimes when I watch the TV News I think I'm watching a different country - it was the same same with the panic buying last year. I've driven into work this morning, passed 5 filling stations and they are all operating normally, no queues, just cars pulling up to the pumps to fill up and then going on their way.
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Post by Big Blue on Sept 27, 2021 7:51:38 GMT
Southerners are more insane. Or there are more insane southerners. Or a combination.
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Post by Blarno on Sept 27, 2021 8:17:27 GMT
Never underestimate the power of stupid, or as my idiom goes:
A person is clever, but people are stupid.
Humans are a bunch of selfish, self serving, greedy cunts. It's that simple. A total disregard for everyone else as long as they have what they need. Typical "I'm alright Jack" attitude. I drove past 3 fuel stations today that were completely cordoned off because they have been bled dry by people who I'm willing to guess didn't really need fuel, but bought it anyway because "Better safe than sorry". I'm of the mind to watch people filling up eleventeen Jerry cans, follow them home and then steal all the fuel back off them and give it to emergency workers and people who actually need it. (I jest, but it would amuse me highly if this happened)
On the flip side, the prices at stations that have fuel have rocketed. We paid £1.36 a litre for petrol yesterday in a part of Stoke that is usually on fire and the Shell local to where I work has hiked diesel up to £1.46 a litre. No wonder nobody is queuing round the block there...
I still have just over half a tank of fuel and have no intention of filling up until the light comes on, probably around Wednesday or Thursday. I'm hoping the idiocy has dwindled by then, otherwise I'm cycling or getting the train to work. I convinced Jo to fill her tank yesterday once the light came on so she has a fighting chance of being able to get to work for the next week or so - she needs to being a healthcare worker dealing directly with Covid.
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Post by alf on Sept 27, 2021 8:37:44 GMT
I had decided against going out in the Jag yesterday looking for fuel as it would be fruitless, but then cycling last night I passed a rural Jet station with one pump still working - unleaded only - and after dinner I went back and filled up - for 142p a litre. Then again half of that tank is paying me back 45p per mile tomorrow when I drive to Telford, Birmingham, and back... I was pretty astonished to find some as all stations here (an Esso, two BP's, a Shell, 2 sainsburys and a Tesco) were totally closed by Saturday lunchtime, and when I drove to Winchester and back to drop Lu off yesterday afternoon (in the Boxster) everything I saw on that journey was shut too. The station I used was the one I had aimed to try, if I had bothered, first thing Sunday - it is not near any towns, so there are few people to panic buy there...
The difference between now and the proper fuel shortage of the Blair government is that fuel tankers are all over the place - resupply may be sporadic but its coming.
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Post by johnc on Sept 27, 2021 9:21:41 GMT
Yeah, it was ridiculous that BP released this knowing that a ravenous press would jump all over it, sparking panic buying... +1. Unless you're of the view that this is all part of ramping up the pressure to get HGV drivers added to the list of allowed immigrant visas, thus allowing companies to go back to hiring cheaper overseas drivers rather than actually training anyone locally. Or, god forbid, having to pay people more to get the to do a job. And if anything will work pressure wise, it's the TV news full of queues at petrol stations. BP apparently pay their drivers less than a lot of other companies and haven't been increasing wages in the current surge, resulting in a large number of drivers taking employment elsewhere! The two BP stations and the Esso station next door to the office all have covers over every pump. The prices at the nearest Shell station were up 2p/litre between Friday morning and going home on Friday night! We can expect price gouging to be widespread for a while. |
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Post by Martin on Sept 27, 2021 9:34:23 GMT
+1. Unless you're of the view that this is all part of ramping up the pressure to get HGV drivers added to the list of allowed immigrant visas, thus allowing companies to go back to hiring cheaper overseas drivers rather than actually training anyone locally. Or, god forbid, having to pay people more to get the to do a job. And if anything will work pressure wise, it's the TV news full of queues at petrol stations. , resulting in a large number of drivers taking employment elsewhere! The two BP stations and the Esso station next door to the office all have covers over every pump. The prices at the nearest Shell station were up 2p/litre between Friday morning and going home on Friday night! We can expect price gouging to be widespread for a while. That is true (as I posted last week) and why they are the only ones who had an issue prior to the panic buying. Even then it was a very small issue. There are 2 BP garages near home, one was closed when I drove past yesterday and the other has added 10p to the price and only had 2 pumps open. I didn't bother, the Golf had more range than I thought to even after a trip to Swindon it's got 85 miles left. I'm not planning to use it this week, so that will be fine through to Saturday. The government has been ignoring the driver shortage for months, but after some panic buying the rules have temporarily changed. There will be temporary work Visas for 5,000 drivers, but they are only valid from November for 3 months. I remain to be convinced that it will work and make any difference. |
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Post by Alex on Sept 27, 2021 11:34:01 GMT
Isn't there the more wider issue that if the driver shortage is Europe wide then some of the countries we're hoping to recruit from are not going to be best pleased with us luring their drivers to come over to Britain making things even worse for them in their own country?
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Post by johnc on Sept 27, 2021 11:38:48 GMT
Do Europe have an issue with driver numbers?
Given the salaries in Poland etc, I can see a lot of their drivers will find the thought of £50K a year as a very attractive option.
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Post by Martin on Sept 27, 2021 11:39:35 GMT
Isn't there the more wider issue that if the driver shortage is Europe wide then some of the countries we're hoping to recruit from are not going to be best pleased with us luring their drivers to come over to Britain making things even worse for them in their own country? That's right plus they have increased their rates as well, so why would a Polish driver (as that's who we've mainly lost) come back and work in the UK when he/she can earn a similar amount in Germany? That's why I don't think it will work. |
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Post by Martin on Sept 27, 2021 11:41:27 GMT
Do Europe have an issue with driver numbers? Given the salaries in Poland etc, I can see a lot of their drivers will find the thought of £50K a year as a very attractive option. We are around 100k drivers short in the UK, but Germany is 40-50k short. Of the 100k, around 20k is due to drivers going back to their home country. |
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Post by clunes on Sept 27, 2021 12:32:33 GMT
Queues all over the place around me clogging up the local routes no-end - it's a joke. I have enough fuel for 2-3 more days so can only hope that the current panic eases somewhat before then!
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Post by ChrisM on Sept 27, 2021 14:28:40 GMT
Our local garage is still out of all fuel (just got back from a post-lunch walk).
I read in the news that Government thinks that sending a letter in the post to all HGV licence holders will solve the crisis my making many return to the industry. You couldn't make it up
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Post by johnc on Sept 27, 2021 14:42:02 GMT
I have just had a few texts with a staff member who is driving up from London today. Apparently a lot of the service stations have closed because they have no fuel and no food! they have just managed to get a rationed £30 of petrol at Scotch Corner but they have been driving at 60mph to conserve fuel for hours and have two hungry and thirsty children on board. They will still need a bit more fuel to get home so fingers crossed. The press need to have a long hard look at themselves.
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Post by Blarno on Sept 27, 2021 14:42:04 GMT
The trouble with that is, not all HGV drivers are ADR trained, which is required for fuel deliveries.
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Post by Alex on Sept 27, 2021 18:35:32 GMT
Channel 5 have an hour long special programme this evening "Panic at the pumps - live!". That's sure to calm people down. 🙄
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Post by LandieMark on Sept 27, 2021 18:50:23 GMT
It has been relatively OK up here as far as I am aware. Local garage has fuel and getting another delivery tomorrow, apparently.
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Post by bryan on Sept 28, 2021 4:50:02 GMT
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Post by Bob Sacamano v2.0 on Sept 28, 2021 7:15:28 GMT
I'm off to Quorn at the weekend so I stopped and filled up as normal. Everything seemed to be running smoothly with no queues and all pumps open.
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Post by PetrolEd on Sept 28, 2021 11:01:22 GMT
Its madness down here. I've just had to sit in traffic to top the tank though I got told off at the till as apparently they were limiting it to £30 a car which I was unaware of after putting 50 litres in. Woops.
No diesel anywhere either. The south sucks
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Post by PG on Sept 28, 2021 11:49:50 GMT
Its madness down here. I've just had to sit in traffic to top the tank though I got told off at the till as apparently they were limiting it to £30 a car which I was unaware of after putting 50 litres in. Woops. No diesel anywhere either. The south sucks There are scuffles breaking out in parts of London over fuel and video on the web this morning of somebody threatening another driver with a knife. WTAF! "Civilisation" is in reality a very, very thin veneer stretched over society in cities and highly populated areas. It does not take much to crack it. Fuel is bad enough, can you imagine what the flare ups would be like if power or water went off for a few days? |
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