It's funny how (fuel shortages)

Sho · 2 Oct 2021 at 11:31

Rroff said:
Managed to get fuel but I had to queue at 2am watching the other people while waiting they were all pumping until the machine stopped but no one going above £5.xx...
No max amount so I managed to fill the tank on my pickup - felt the odd one out buying 10x as much as anyone else.

What? Queue at 2am? WTF? :mad:

deuse · 2 Oct 2021 at 11:50

markoboyo11 said:
^ you think they batteries will last 8 years tho, no battery I've ever come across before has.
Check out the price of replacing the batteries, and have a giggle.

It all depends how the cells are looked after.

keyser · 2 Oct 2021 at 11:55

I'll tell work I can't get petrol and I'm WFH. Pretty sure they don't have a leg to stand on if they want to argue that I can't - we just spent last year WFH so proved it can be done. I really don't see what the big deal is.

I actually have petrol for maybe up to 2 weeks but I'll still em I don't have petrol

GTAMADDOG · 2 Oct 2021 at 11:58

Filled up with diesel at my usual garage yesterday evening, only had to wait for one vehicle already at the pump to leave. Normally brim the tank every Wednesday regardless of how much fuel is left in the car, but left it a couple of days longer because I didn't want to add to the madness earlier in the week. The price was a few pence more per litre, but just to make sure I'm set for another couple of weeks (if required) I'm OK with paying above the norm. At the start of it all they only served emergency services/workers, a couple of days later they imposed a £25 limit, then £35, now they're back to normal.

Four out of six garages I pass on my way to/from work either had no fuel or in the case of one there was a queue yesterday despite being in a rural area. Similar story throughout most of the week.

markoboyo11 · 2 Oct 2021 at 12:06

deuse said:
It all depends how the cells are looked after.

Will certainly help but No chance of getting 8 years with a reasonable charge in them.
Feel for these people in a few years when they go to get new batteries and see the price. Heard it half the price of a new car....... and way more than petrol would have costed.

Malt_Vinegar · 2 Oct 2021 at 12:15

markoboyo11 said:
Will certainly help but No chance of getting 8 years with a reasonable charge in them.
Feel for these people in a few years when they go to get new batteries and see the price. Heard it half the price of a new car....... and way more than petrol would have costed.

Although this is now very off topic, the situation with batteries, in terms of availability, quality, longevity and technology in 8 years is likely to be significantly different. It's still a gamble though!!

loftie · 2 Oct 2021 at 12:33

V F said:
I honestly cannot remember but what was it that caused the frenzy? I mean who actually triggered the whole scenario?

BP IIRC.

At a meeting, organised by the Cabinet Office last Thursday, BP’s Head of UK Retail, Hanna Hofer, said it was important that government understood the “urgency of the situation” which she described as “bad, very bad”.

According to Hofer, BP has “two thirds of normal forecourt stock levels required for smooth operations” and that level is “declining rapidly”.

The company is preparing to restrict deliveries “very soon”.

This will mean running 80% of services levels to 90% of BP’s forecourt network and that most locations, as a result, will not be restocked for one-and-a-half days a week.

BP says it is hopeful that fuels stocks at forecourts will stabilise and start to rebuild at some point in October but Hofer said: “We are are expecting the next few weeks to be really, really difficult.”

Then the next day.

BP said on Thursday that up to 100 of its forecourts were short of at least one grade of fuel, with several forced to close entirely because of a lack of deliveries.

Esso said a handful of its petrol stations operated alongside Tesco Express stores were affected, while some of the supermarket chain’s own-branded sites were also suffering outages.

Obviously everyone losing their mind made things better.

jonneymendoza · 2 Oct 2021 at 12:42

@Chris Wilson that was some weird trippy post there about fog lol.

All ok?

cheesefest · 2 Oct 2021 at 12:44

Is anyone else here that isn't driving to get fuel, having to plan a route that involves no or just one petrol station? I had to collect a click n collect order. Planned a route which only involved passing one fuel station on the other side of the road - in fact it was the same one I filled up yesterday. Was about 6 cars on forecourt.

Normally its a 3 mile round trip. It was more like just over 5 miles. Plus along the route, there was emergency road works with traffic light control

ElliorR · 2 Oct 2021 at 13:09

cheesefest said:
Is anyone else here that isn't driving to get fuel, having to plan a route that involves no or just one petrol station? I had to collect a click n collect order. Planned a route which only involved passing one fuel station on the other side of the road - in fact it was the same one I filled up yesterday. Was about 6 cars on forecourt.

Normally its a 3 mile round trip. It was more like just over 5 miles. Plus along the route, there was emergency road works with traffic light control

My usual route to work goes past 2 petrol stations so I've modified it so I don't as the tailbacks on the main road is bad.

Once this all kicked off last Friday I was off work to watch the Ryder Cup, what a shambles that was, and had half a tank so wasn't fussed as that would last me the next week. I would have had to fill up this weekend, which looks like it'd be one hell of a challenge, but on Wednesday night I was driving home through a small town 15 miles from where I live and I saw a petrol station, Esso, with no queue and what looked like someone filling up so I took the chance and filled up. The price was 10p a ltr more than I paid last time I filled up, £1.429, but beggars can't be choosers. The following night driving past the same Esso station it had no fuel. I've enough fuel to last me till mid Octoberish now so hopefully things will be more sensible by then.

Blackjack Davy · 2 Oct 2021 at 15:03

loftie said:
BP IIRC.

Then the next day.

Obviously everyone losing their mind made things better.

It was brought up by BP in a private cabinet meeting iirc but someone leaked it to the press and hence the trouble we're in now someone in the govt was blaming the Road Haulage or Hauliers association iirc of doing it deliberately to stoke panic to try and force the govt's hand to let in floods of cheap foreign labour. Not sure of the truth of any of it personally

V F · 2 Oct 2021 at 15:17

Rroff said:
Managed to get fuel but I had to queue at 2am watching the other people while waiting they were all pumping until the machine stopped but no one going above £5.xx...

No max amount so I managed to fill the tank on my pickup - felt the odd one out buying 10x as much as anyone else.

Sounds like Maximum Overdrive. https://youtu.be/p-sWc2huAZg

GR63 · 2 Oct 2021 at 15:42

beachBOYken said:
It felt like an achievement getting fuel today.

Achievement Unlocked "Scoring Fuel During an Artificial Crisis 10G"... Me too, would have paid penalty charge on returning a hire car without full tank.

Dirk Diggler · 2 Oct 2021 at 16:53

We've got a trip to Alton Towers & Legoland booked for next week but seriously thinking of cancelling. Anyone in the local area able to advise if it's still chaos?

Jono8 · 2 Oct 2021 at 17:06

Getting silly in the south east now and actually much worse than earlier in the week. Literally none of the stations near me have petrol.

If you have over half a tank's worth and know you won't use that in a week or so but are still filling up at every opportunity, you're the problem.

200sols · 2 Oct 2021 at 17:11

Jono8 said:
Getting silly in the south east now and actually much worse than earlier in the week. Literally none of the stations near me have petrol.

If you have over half a tank's worth and know you won't use that in a week or so but are still filling up at every opportunity, you're the problem.

Tbh lack of any real supply seems to be the problem now..

Raymond Lin · 2 Oct 2021 at 17:40

Just drove past a Texaco and Esso, both had no queues, both has fuel (Herefordshire).

alchal · 2 Oct 2021 at 17:45

Seems all well and good in Sheffield now.

Blackjack Davy · 2 Oct 2021 at 18:12

200sols said:
Tbh lack of any real supply seems to be the problem now..

BBC news banner: "PM states situation at filling stations is "stabilising" after panic buying"

Yes its stablilising all right, its stablising into no fuel available anywhere in the SE you idiot.

Feek · 2 Oct 2021 at 18:18

Going on holiday next week. We’ll get there but won’t have enough fuel to get home again. Hopefully this won’t be quite so bad in a week or so when I actually need to fill back up again.