Petrol and diesel set to be the new bog roll. Road Warriors unite! 🚙

Passed 4 filling stations on today’s ride. All closed but 2 had Hoyer tankers in so presume those will open shortly, a view apparently shared by the dozen or so drivers already queuing at one of them (surrey/Hants borders)

Our deliveries have all been made as normal. Shell even let us increase the frequency. Only problem is as soon as a tanker arrives so does the queues.
I don’t think there has been a shortage. Our stations are all reasonable sized, on major roads, no idea if we have been lucky, prioritised or whether Shell is operating normally for all deliveries. But in terms of fuel deliveries, they’ve all been fine.
A normal delivery would last us 4 days. Gone within about 18 hours. (We do have to leave a certain amount in the tanks, but as a general principle, deliveries all seem ok)

is @binners aware?

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2021/oct/05/greggs-costs-shortages-sales-prices

Some people on here will castigate you for getting in your car at all to go to work

It wasn’t to get to work

Only problem is as soon as a tanker arrives so does the queues.

Can you not borrow a couple of concrete tankers to lead the queues away?

It wasn’t to get to work

STONE HIM!

😆

I thought that Falling Down poster would be improved with a jerry can

Very nice. We need the distraction of a good photoshop thread.

I had a go 🙂

The local Tesco and other stations are all out of fuel again (Amersham). I’ve got less than 100 miles of range remaining so won’t be going to work unless I can find some tonight/tomorrow morning.

Seems to be pretty near normal up here in West Yorks now.

Belay that – my wife spotted an Esso with diesel so I can go to work now. 1 out of 7 garages with fuel – must be all over now 🙂

Are we still blaming the public? Did it work? Can we take the same approach to all other shortages this winter?

Are we still blaming the public? Did it work? Can we take the same approach to all other shortages this winter?

Yes they will blame us for hoarding gas even when it is pointed out to them that storage for hoarding it could be an issue for most. They will just double down on their lies.

Interesting article blaming the just in time supply chain rather than motorists (mainly)

https://news.sky.com/story/how-an-extra-five-litres-of-petrol-meant-the-country-ground-to-a-halt-12426700

From the sky article linked;

The relatively small increase (just over 5 litres) in the average person’s demand, coupled with a near tripling in the number of customers in a very short time led to shortages across the system.

Yep, so an increase in the average fill of five litres coupled with the number of people taking the average fill tripling definitely supports a conclusion that the supply chain is to blame…

Secondly, this whole flaming of JIT supply fails to put in proportion what it would cost to store the quantity of fuel that would support this kind of demand. I really should do the math. I can’t be arsed so I’ll just accept I’ll lose the argument.

I see the Torygraph are trying to say it was the switch to E10 as the stations were running their tanks down, (bollocks it was why would the stations not just fill up as normal and after a few deliveries it would be all E10 in the stations tank). And how would that have diesel shortages.

falkirk-mark
Full Member

I see the Torygraph are trying to say it was the switch to E10 as the stations were running their tanks down, (bollocks it was why would the stations not just fill up as normal and after a few deliveries it would be all E10 in the stations tank). And how would that have diesel shortages.

They’ve more or less taken this direct from stupid facebook conspiracy theories.

Are we still blaming the public? Did it work? Can we take the same approach to all other shortages this winter?

As long as they’re entirely localised to certain areas of the country I’m good with that. Unless that’s just another stick we can beat Scotland and “the North” with.

It’s got sod all to do with E10.

Its media led panic buying imho.

My daughter and I are going to the midlands tomorrow for a University open day. I’ve enough to get there, but not back. A quick drive last night and not a drop of diesel available in the garages near home; do i drive round today to fill up or am I ‘guaranteed’ to get some in the Warwick / Coventry area?

(I really don’t feel like dropping my trousers and getting filled up on the M40, but suppose that’s an option too)

Every station I rode past in Bristol on Wednesday (5 of them) had all fuels available and no queues.

Motorway services will have fuel.

I think it’s just localised issues now. Unleaded and diesel near me in Reading, no Queues. (No super)
Garages I saw in Chichester seemed to have fuel.
I just filled up in Bedford with diesel, no Queue. 650 mile range should see me into next week. I’ve not seen any signs on the M25 suggesting no fuel.

London Tuesday, big queues and taped off pumps. It may have improved by now

Its media led panic buying imho.

Yes, that is what caused it and if any product is suddenly purchased in much higher demand than historically purchased the product will run out and the supply chain will not cope.
It has highlighted other issues but they were not the cause of it.

London Tuesday, big queues and taped off pumps. It may have improved by now

Not a bad as it was but still queues and forecourts with no fuel in sw London judging by my meanderings over the last few days.

The relatively small increase (just over 5 litres) in the average person’s demand

Is that a common thing? Like, people go to a forecourt and don’t fill the tank?

I appreciate that some folk can’t afford a full tank in one hit, and there’s the rather tenuous argument of a nominal fuel economy gain from carrying less weight (likely wiped out by driving to the station three times as often), but I wouldn’t have thought it was widespread enough to cause a problem?

Unless it’s dickwads with jerry cans I suppose.

It does seem odd. If I see a garage which is cheaper than the others when I need some I fill the tank, the only time I would ever not do so is a really expensive motorway splash and dash.
.
I must confess to having filled a 20L Jerry can this week though, but in my defence I’m off to a funeral just over 300 miles away and can now guarantee doing the return trip without needing to get any more, it’s fine here but no idea what it’s like there.

I appreciate that some folk can’t afford a full tank in one hit,

I don’t fill mine every visit as the car is on the drive for long periods of time. If the fuel goes off I want enough space to top it up with some fresh to ensure it will start ok.

How long does it have to stand before it goes funny?
I’ve used my emergency can after maybe two years in the boot and it was fine (diesel), father has a ‘summer only’car that will stand with half a tank in for seven or eight months a year (petrol) and neither have been a problem.
I do try to rotate my can every few months though, pop it in the van and refill it instead of just brimming the van, I just don’t always remember to do it

There’s garages with zero fuel in London still

Is that a common thing? Like, people go to a forecourt and don’t fill the tank?

Of course. I’m sure there are lots of people driving short distances to work but £60 represents a big chunk out of weekly income. Some people like to spread expenses out over time.

How long does it have to stand before it goes funny?

3 to 6 months is the official line from the AA and the like but you’ll only start to see a marginal drop in performance that most people won’t notice. I’ve used fuel much older than that without issues.

Is that a common thing? Like, people go to a forecourt and don’t fill the tank?

For me, yep half a tank will do my typical driving for maybe 9 to 14 days and I normally drive past at least 4 stations in a typical day so there’s not much cause for anxiety really, the monthly spend is of course pretty much the same but, but brimming the tank would just means I end up lugging around three+ weeks worth of fuel at a time, which is fine I suppose but arguably less efficient…

Do most people normally just fill the tank even if they have no long journeys planned?

I gwnerally fill the tank then worry if I’ve done the right thing or not

How long does it have to stand before it goes funny

When it does eventually go off you will no all about it – the smell is horrendous

Do most people normally just fill the tank even if they have no long journeys planned?

Yes, because it costs less not to buy it locally.