Petrol supply crisis

[UndercoverElephant]

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/bp-t ... -0qvr7wxwn

Panic buying at petrol stations after No 10 appeals for calm
Soldiers could be asked to drive tankers

Just been to my local Asda - on foot - to get some bits for lunch. Total chaos. The petrol station is at the far end of the car park, but the queue for petrol stretched right to the entrance of the car park, thereby blocking the way in for anybody (in a car) who just wants to go shopping. Asda staff currently walking up the main road talking to queuing motorists, but I listened in to their conversation and basically they don't know how to manage the situation. Presumably they want to get rid of people who only want petrol, but if you're low on fuel and the same problem exists at all the other local petrol stations then that's not reasonable. You can't send people away who might be about to run out. What are they going to do? Inspect people's fuel gauges to make sure they are really running out?

[adam2]

In a previous petrol panic, yes some filling stations DID inspect customers fuel gauges. The wise hoarder modified the wiring to the fuel gauge so that operation of a concealed switch caused a "nearly empty" reading regardless of the actual contents.
Other filling stations imposed a minimum charge of say £20, payable in advance. If the customer only had room for a very small volume of petrol, they still paid £20.

[clv101]

I was in a big Tesco today, inside everything normal except a few gaps on the fresh meat shelves, nothing exceptional though. The petrol station was crazy though! Irrelevant of any delivery distributions I expect there to be shortages by the end of the weekend just due to panic buying.

[Stumuz2]

Here in the Greek islands observed a heated exchange over a propane gas purchase. Asked if the argument was about the availability of the gas? No , it was the price which has doubled in a very short time.

[clv101]

The government must know that telling people not to panic buy causes them to panic buy - so why say anything? I guess it lets them shift blame for disruptions next week onto the panic buyers?

[Catweazle]

I didn't see this coming. I've been dipping into my petrol all summer for the mower and brushcutter, not much left for the emergency generator now. Normally I'd be topping up the jerry cans soon.

[Potemkin Villager]

In a fit of irrational masochism I tuned into R4 news on long wave this morning
as a change from the usual offering from RTE.

Just in time to hear the Rt Hon vacant stare whatshisface telling people not to panic.

Either he has been poorly briefed, or an idiot or probably both.

Like watching a slow motion fuel free car crash.

[adam2]

The government must know that telling people not to panic buy causes them to panic buy - so why say anything? I guess it lets them shift blame for disruptions next week onto the panic buyers?

If the government has said nothing, then the opposition would have accused them of "doing nothing nothing about the crisis, and ignoring families"

[clv101]

Thought fracking was dead?

Wonder if this situation with gas supply and the artificial petrol/diesel issue will be used to gain public support for a relaunch? https://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/arti ... -mine.html

[adam2]

An acquaintance who lives near a petrol filling station reports that they were blocked into their own drive by a petrol queue blocking vehicle access to/from their property.
The police felt unable to intervene. They then enquired of the police, "if this is not a police matter, then am I allowed to deal with the obstruction myself"
Shortly afterwards the police arrived to observe, but still felt unable to do anything.

[kenneal - lagger]

I shared this post from an ex lorry driver on my Facebook page earlier. It gives a perspective that many people don''t want to hear.

Jim Titheridge
17th September at 06:17

So, you are running out of food on the shelves, fuel in the garages, you can’t buy things you need, because the shops can’t get their supplies.
Why is that?
A shortage of goods? No
A shortage of money? No
A shortage of drivers to deliver the goods? Well, sort of.
There isn’t actually a shortage of drivers, what we have, is a shortage of people who can drive, that are willing to drive any more. You might wonder why that is. I can’t answer for all drivers, but I can give you the reason I no longer drive. Driving was something I always yearned to do as a young boy, and as soon as I could, I managed to get my driving licence, I even joined the army to get my HGV licence faster, I held my licence at the age of 17. It was all I ever wanted to do, drive trucks, I had that vision of being a knight of the roads, bringing the goods to everyone, providing a service everyone needed. What I didn’t take into account was the absolute abuse my profession would get over the years.
I have seen a massive decline in the respect this trade has, first, it was the erosion of truck parking and transport café’s, then it was the massive increase in restricting where I could stop, timed weight limits in just about every city and town, but not all the time, you can get there to do your delivery, but you can’t stay there, nobody wants an empty truck, nobody wants you there once they have what they did want.
Compare France to the UK. I can park in nearly every town or village, they have marked truck parking bays, and somewhere nearby, will be a small routier, where I can get a meal and a shower, the locals respect me, and have no problems with me or my truck being there for the night.
Go out onto the motorway services, and I can park for no cost, go into the service area, and get a shower for a minimal cost, and have freshly cooked food, I even get to jump the queues, because others know that my time is limited, and respect I am there because it is my job. Add to that, I even get a 20% discount of all I purchase. Compare that to the UK £25-£40 just to park overnight, dirty showers, and expensive, dried (under heat lamps) food that is overpriced, and I have no choice but to park there, because you don’t want me in your towns and cities.
Ask yourself how you would feel, if doing your job actually cost you money at the end of the day, just so you could rest.
But that isn’t the half of it. Not only have we been rejected from our towns and cities, but we have also suffered massive pay cuts, because of the influx of foreign drivers willing to work for a wage that is high where they come from, companies eagerly recruited from the eastern bloc, who can blame them, why pay good money when you can get cheap labour, and a never ending supply of it as well. Never mind that their own countries would suffer from a shortage themselves, that was never our problem, they could always get people from further afield if they needed drivers.
We were once seen as knights of the road, now we are seen as the lepers of society. Why would anyone want to go back to that?
If you are worried about not getting supplies on your supermarket shelves, ask your local council just how well they cater for trucks in your district.
I know Canterbury has the grand total of zero truck parking facilities, but does have a lot of restrictions, making it difficult for trucks to stop anywhere.
Do you want me to go back to driving trucks? Give me a good reason to do so. Give anyone a good reason to take it up as a profession.
Perhaps once you work out why you can’t, you will understand why your shelves are not as full as they could be.
I tried it for over 30 years, but will never go back, you just couldn't pay me enough.
Thank you to all those people who have shared this post. I never expected such a massive response, but am glad that this message is getting out there. I really hope that some people who are in a position to change just how bad it is for some drivers, can influence the powers that be to make changes for the better. Perhaps some city and town councillors have seen this, and are willing to bring up these issues at their council meetings. It surely cannot be too much to ask of a town/city to provide facilities for those who are doing so much to make sure their economies run and their shops and businesses are stocked with supplies. I never wanted any luxuries, just somewhere safe to park, and some basic ablutions that are maintained to a reasonable standard. I spent my nights away from my home and family for you, how much is it to ask that you at least give me access to some basic services.
There are tens, maybe hundreds of thousands of licence holders just like me, who will no longer tolerate the conditions. So the ball is firmly in the court of the councils to solve this problem.

[clv101]

Rings true. I was talking to a HGV driver just last week. He quit doing long distance/overnight stuff for much the same reasons as above. Makes a good living working locally, day deliveries of assorted pallet loads around south Wales. He had particular grievance with Tesco who don't even let the drivers use the facilities at the stores - just in, unload and out ASAP.

Also worth nothing that many professions/trades have gone to $hit over the last couple decades. I was quite familiar with call centres 20 years ago, workers there had far more freedoms then than the micromanagement they are subject to today and in academia, many postdocs are quitting and moving to 'industry' due to the bad working conditions, stress, unreasonable expectations, lack of job security, zero-hour contracts etc.

[UndercoverElephant]

If that really is the problem, and it sounds very likely, then the government has got a major issue on its hands. Why the f*** would you do that when you can do supermarket food deliveries instead? If you've got a shortage of 70,000 drivers, then there's nobody going to be willing to do the least attractive jobs. In the current market, they can choose to do one of the more attractive driving jobs for more money that the least attractive ones used to pay. Which means there's a pool of jobs that absolutely nobody wants to do - at all. They'd have to double the wages to get people to do it, and that would just mean something else doesn't get delivered, rather than petrol.

While the problems are perfectly solvable in principle, most of the available solutions aren't quick. I mean...Tesco could let the drivers using their facilities, but it isn't so easy for the government to force Tesco to do so. They'd need to pass legislation to make it happen. But this situation needs a solution quickly, or it could escalate quite seriously.

[UndercoverElephant]

https://news.sky.com/video/hgv-driver-s ... s-12415527

OK..so this guy says that as things stand, more drivers leave the profession every week than join it. Which means the problem can only get worse, until that is reversed. Even bringing the army in won't solve it for long.

[UndercoverElephant]

https://www.thegrocer.co.uk/supply-chai ... 41.article

The HGV driver shortage has escalated to crisis point. As multiple theories circulate over the underlying cause, The Grocer has sourced exclusive data to uncover what’s really driving the issue

What was once a quiet storm in the supply chain has escalated into a fully-fledged hurricane. The low-level shortage of HGV drivers that has long troubled haulage and logistics professionals is now sizeable, acute, and urgent. It’s plaguing businesses of all shapes and sizes and leaving food shelves empty across the country.

While all involved each have their own take on the causes and solutions, there is a notable lack of evidence to support any distinct claim. The result has been a growing rift between camps, most tellingly industry and government.

But now with exclusive data, The Grocer is able to tell a fuller story, showing both the real causes behind the driver shortage as well as plotting a possible route out.