[News] There's no need to panic buy petrol

[Super Steve Earle]

So you've put a full month's worth of fuel in your car? And contributed to Tescos running out. What if there was a carer behind you that needed the fuel to visit the elderly? Or a plumber that needs to fix someones heating.

Ah, feck them. I'm sorted for the month and I don't care.

No matter how much we blame the Govt, actions like that will keep it going.

It's hilarious how much 'blame' is being put on the Govt (who are frickin useless) and yet this thread is full of aholes not caring about others and just looking after number 1.

No, I had no fuel, barely enough to get home if I didn't find some. I could have tried sooner, but hoped the crisis would pass. I've put a couple of weeks fuel in the car, which I can stretch to a month by judicious driving, reducing journey's and walking more, as I said. I also mentioned visiting family which last week involved caring for my sick grandson.

I could go on, but I don't care what you think. It's really none of your business.

 

[Neville's Breakfast]

The idea that people keep saying of a 'minimum' £30 spend is fine in theory but that's if you've got the money spare. I know 2 people who are care workers that go into peoples homes. One today has had to get the bus to see clients & has obviously been late for people. That £5 bus fare has taken half their petrol money for the week. The other person I know has their car parked a mile away from their house as they ran out of petrol & there are no petrol stations near enough to walk to with a can. They haven't been able to work for 2 days now.
They both get paid shit money as it is and have jobs that fit in with looking after their kids. One has lost 2 days pay, the other one is spending a weeks worth of petrol on bus fares in two days. Not everyone can afford to fill up their tanks, let alone have a minimum spend of £30 imposed on them. If you don't need a full tank of petrol for the next couple of weeks, don't bloody fill it up!! Oh yeah and someone will be going into a garage with a petrol can to fill up my friends car with enough petrol to get to a station they know has fuel! If you need it for your job, then fine. If you're filling up 'just in case', then you are a part of the problem, so stop being a selfish idiot.

I understand where you are coming from but spending more on bus fares and missing days of pay is more expensive than just filling up the car.

 

[B-right-on]

My dad queued for around 45 mind to get his this morning as had run out. Put his usual £25 in, lasts him a couple of weeks. Till operator said it was one of the highest amounts he had taken this morning, guy before him had topped up to full....£3.72!

Just no words that can describe such moronic, imbecilic stupidity to 'top up' £3.72

Between the toilet roll fiasco and petrolgate, I really do worry about society if something really bad or serious was to happen. We'd be totally and utterly fooked.

 

[Pudos]

So you believe the till operator that the guy in front queued say 40 minutes to put £3.72, I recon the till operator was bullshitting [emoji23]

No, the £3.72 was witnessed. More the state some are getting into over their fear of losing control.

 

[Wardy's twin]

Unless these repeat garage visitors are actually driving more than usual then by now they won't be taking anymore fuel out of the system than normal ?

its the queueing that's the issue , if everyone changes to keeping topped up (say at 3/4 of a tank) then garages are then having to take 3 or 4 times more customers who then drive the system very hard , max it out and kill it , then cycle repeats.

did a lot of study on work flow through computer systems for capacity and performance management in my job , the situation is very analagous... transactions (cars) stored in the network(road) waiting to be serviced and because they are servicing them all it grinds to a halt so system (garage) availability is also reduced as it wasting time dealing with bad stuff .

 

[swindonseagull]

Drove straight in ASDA at 1430, no queue, chucked in £40, no limits on how much you can buy and it was only £1.33 per litre for diesel.
its only the likes of BP/Shell/Esso that have restocking problems the cashier told me ASDA have 2 deliveries a day......I know Swindon is a long way to come for fuel but at least we will now be at the AMEX Saturday.

Past Sainsburys just after and no queues there either.

 

[B-right-on]

No, I had no fuel, barely enough to get home if I didn't find some. I could have tried sooner, but hoped the crisis would pass. I've put a couple of weeks fuel in the car, which I can stretch to a month by judicious driving, reducing journey's and walking more, as I said. I also mentioned visiting family which last week involved caring for my sick grandson.

I could go on, but I don't care what you think. It's really none of your business.

You still put in a month's fuel where some care assistants can't get fuel.

Hope you stay happy with yourself.

It is my business when idiots like you, Mr £3.72 and tens of thousands of others 'topping up' when they don't need to are fecking it up for others. Unfortunately we share the same country.

 

[WATFORD zero]

I understand where you are coming from but spending more on bus fares and missing days of pay is more expensive than just filling up the car.

Absolutely speechless. And anybody who has spent any time on NSC will know what you've achieved

 

[Neville's Breakfast]

Absolutely speechless. And anybody who has spent any time on NSC will know what you've achieved

Wtf are you talking about. Unlike you with your cosy lifetime of regular income I have gone through periods of no income at all. I spent a whole year working when my kids were small when I earnt nothing, zilch. You have no idea of the sacrifices I have made. I certainly don’t need a lecture in personal finances from you.

 

[Thunder Bolt]

We travelled up the M1 this afternoon where, very helpfully, the signs before each service station, stated what was available.
Ie. Watford Gap petrol only
Trowell HGV only
Tibshelf diesel only.

 

[Cotton Socks]

I understand where you are coming from but spending more on bus fares and missing days of pay is more expensive than just filling up the car.

The 2 days lost of pay is the person who had to park up a mile away as they'd actually run out & now can't get any, they can't drive around to get any & is waiting for a) someone to be able to bring a can to them & b) to know when the station near to them is open, so they can drive straight there & put petrol in (the bus isn't an option for them, due to their location).
The person who is spending the money on bus fares is because they had £10 to put in for fuel but can't drive around to find any so has taken the bus option.
Today is the end of the month, therefore payday, they can now both afford to put the hypothetical minimum spend idea in their tank. I was more trying to say how the minimum spend idea won't work as was touted earlier in the thread. Now they've both been paid, the minimum spend would work for them. If they can find fuel they'll be back to work as usual on Monday.
Things cost more if you don't have the money in the 1st place. An expensive pair of boots will last you for years. A cheap pair of boots will last 6 months. You'll end up paying more as you didn't have the money to buy the expensive shoes in the first place.

 

[Neville's Breakfast]

The 2 days lost of pay is the person who had to park up a mile away as they'd actually run out & now can't get any, they can't drive around to get any & is waiting for a) someone to be able to bring a can to them & b) to know when the station near to them is open, so they can drive straight there & put petrol in (the bus isn't an option for them, due to their location).
The person who is spending the money on bus fares is because they had £10 to put in for fuel but can't drive around to find any so has taken the bus option.
Today is the end of the month, therefore payday, they can now both afford to put the hypothetical minimum spend idea in their tank. I was more trying to say how the minimum spend idea won't work as was touted earlier in the thread. Now they've both been paid, the minimum spend would work for them. If they can find fuel they'll be back to work as usual on Monday.

Thanks for taking the time to explain. My Mum relies on carers coming in twice a day (sometimes three times). I organise it from afar and I’m not sure what we (or she) would do if they couldn’t make it.

 

[Lindfield by the Pond]

Just trying to think logically about this. This is my theory:-
We pretty much have to be at the stage now, 1 week into this, where people have fuel in the tank. The issue has to be with people still panicked that are "topping up".

They are not extracting the same volume of fuel as they were 5 days ago - they can't as there is no substantial volume to fill in tanks.

The queues will start to be as a result of the "panickers" topping up. The issue should therefore transition from an issue of supply, to an issue of time prepared to queue. It will take longer for two people to each put a fiver in, than one person to do £10. If you are prepared to queue, you should get some?

What do you think?

 

[Cotton Socks]

Thanks for taking the time to explain. My Mum relies on carers coming in twice a day (sometimes three times). I organise it from afar and I’m not sure what we (or she) would do if they couldn’t make it.

In the case of my friend who can't work, other staff have gone to their clients to cover. No-one has been left but my friend has lost 2 days of pay and feels a bit crap that her clients have had to have strangers coming in to help them. The one who's done the bus has been late but has got to them & has got home really late & doesn't get any extra pay. If either of them thought that someone would be without help they would get there no matter what, even if it meant borrowing money for a taxi there & back.

 

[drew]

Just trying to think logically about this. This is my theory:-
We pretty much have to be at the stage now, 1 week into this, where people have fuel in the tank. The issue has to be with people still panicked that are "topping up".

They are not extracting the same volume of fuel as they were 5 days ago - they can't as there is no substantial volume to fill in tanks.

The queues will start to be as a result of the "panickers" topping up. The issue should therefore transition from an issue of supply, to an issue of time prepared to queue. It will take longer for two people to each put a fiver in, than one person to do £10. If you are prepared to queue, you should get some?

What do you think?

The queues will also have people in them who are using their car on a daily basis and therefore using what is in their tanks!!!

 

[jessiejames]

A follow up to my lorry drivers view of th e driver shortage and Brexit, this is not so much about Brexit, as that is only 20% of the driver shortage, there are still 80,000 drivers short. This started back in 2009, with the DCPC many older drivers refused to do this and gave up their licence. Government have been warned about this since, 12 years later it come to fruition.
HGV drivers are treated like shit, give us lorry parks, somewhere we can feel safe in, not these grotty services, where you would not even wash a dog in for a shower.
People are still panicking about the fuel, yes I managed to fill my truck up this morning the person on the pump down from me filled his up at a total cost of £12. He thought it was funny when I said to him that he was a bell end and causing the shortage, only to be told that it's my ****ing fault being a lorry driver.
The media have blown this out of proportion by reporting it. The shortage is only with BP and Shell because Hoyer supply them, and a lot of the drivers have left due to low pay compared with other companies.
Unless people stop panic buying fuel this will go on for a long time, all the while this is happening lorry drivers are getting low on Derv, this means more chances of empty shelves in the supermarket then more panic buying. Bring in a minimum spend at fuel pumps of £50.

Key workers are those that have the letter from the government and NHS that classes them as Key workers.

 

[Lindfield by the Pond]

The queues will also have people in them who are using their car on a daily basis and therefore using what is in their tanks!!!

Yes, but the point I am thinking about is that their first panic buy may have been £40, but their subsequent panic buys have to be lower, say £5. They physically can't put another £40 in, so the petrol stations will stay open longer feeding these £5 buyers, so if you need fuel, it should start becoming a question of time, rather than availability?

 

[Lindfield by the Pond]

I know I am conflating different issues, but Shell or Esso is becoming the best place to see your GP!

 

[Neville's Breakfast]

A follow up to my lorry drivers view of th e driver shortage and Brexit, this is not so much about Brexit, as that is only 20% of the driver shortage, there are still 80,000 drivers short. This started back in 2009, with the DCPC many older drivers refused to do this and gave up their licence. Government have been warned about this since, 12 years later it come to fruition.
HGV drivers are treated like shit, give us lorry parks, somewhere we can feel safe in, not these grotty services, where you would not even wash a dog in for a shower.
People are still panicking about the fuel, yes I managed to fill my truck up this morning the person on the pump down from me filled his up at a total cost of £12. He thought it was funny when I said to him that he was a bell end and causing the shortage, only to be told that it's my ****ing fault being a lorry driver.
The media have blown this out of proportion by reporting it. The shortage is only with BP and Shell because Hoyer supply them, and a lot of the drivers have left due to low pay compared with other companies.
Unless people stop panic buying fuel this will go on for a long time, all the while this is happening lorry drivers are getting low on Derv, this means more chances of empty shelves in the supermarket then more panic buying. Bring in a minimum spend at fuel pumps of £50.

Key workers are those that have the letter from the government and NHS that classes them as Key workers.

It’s spectacularly backfired on Hoyer. Perhaps BP and Esso would be better off looking elsewhere.

 

[drew]

Yes, but the point I am thinking about is that their first panic buy may have been £40, but their subsequent panic buys have to be lower, say £5. They physically can't put another £40 in, so the petrol stations will stay open longer feeding these £5 buyers, so if you need fuel, it should start becoming a question of time, rather than availability?

I can use one to one and half tanks of petrol a week, sometimes more. I'm sure there are plenty like me. Where I agree is that those that don't regularly use their car during the week have already topped up and don't need to again.