Panic buying leaves up to 90% of fuel pumps dry in major British cities

www.reuters.com...

Up to 90% of British fuel stations ran dry across major English cities on Monday after panic buying deepened a supply chain crisis triggered by a shortage of truckers that retailers are warning could batter the world's fifth-largest economy.

A dire post-Brexit shortage of lorry drivers emerging after the COVID-19 pandemic has sown chaos through British supply chains in everything from food to fuel, raising the spectre of disruptions and price rises in the run up to Christmas.

Just days after Prime Minister Boris Johnson's government spent millions of pounds to avert a food shortage due to a spike in prices for natural gas, the biggest cost in fertilizer production, ministers asked people to refrain from panic buying.

But queues of dozens of cars snaked back from petrol stations across the country on Sunday, swallowing up supplies and forcing many gas stations to simply close. Pumps across British cities were either closed or had signs saying fuel was unavailable on Monday, Reuters reporters said.

where did this come from???
anyone in that part of the world can enlighten us?
how long before this happens in USA?

green energy!!!

a reply to: ElGoobero

Brexit...

Basically, last week a journalist overheard someone from BP mantioned that they were having issues keeping a small number of their petrol stations fully staocked. This got blown out of all proportion causing massive panic buying ..... with the result that many petrol stations ran out due to extreme unprecedented demand.

It'll all be back to normal in a few days.

90% of petrol stations have not run out. However in a survey of operators who, between them run just 200 petrol stations, a few did mention this figure. But others had no issues at all.

There is no fuel shortage in the UK and only very minor issues regarding distribution.

But if you sell 100 apples a day and the media tell everyone apples are in short supply, so 200 people rush to your shop to buy an apple ..... this is what happens.

What it highlights, however, is how vulnerable we all are to media headlines - and how the media can very easily orchestrate major events, whether intentionally or otherwise.

And how stupid the public are en masse.

Bugger all to do with Brexit or shortage of drivers.
90% of petrol stations are not dry. But they have had to put a cap of £30 per vehicle across 400 petrol stations because of the 'panic buy'.
Tanker drivers require a special license over and above their HGV to drive tankers. We haven't had a shortage over last 18 months. Refineries are full.
But there is something else going on here. Possibly because UK have just rolled out what they call the new E10 fuel might have something to do with it. Petrol also has a shelf life of around 6 months, so possible they have fuel that needs to be 'off loaded ' before expiration date.
However, trucking is an 'old man's game'. Not many youngsters find life on the road appealing.
The media hyped this up and as usual the 'sheeple' bought into it.
Rainbows
Jane

Looking at the replies, it sounds like a scam to increase prices for a bit.

As for when this happens in the USA, well... Any day now. Happens about twice a year of you listen to the tv.

I've seen it once in 15 years where about half the gas stations ran dry... But the other half had plenty. Something about distribution still being a free market, and certain people still having standards.

a reply to: angelchemuel

How very well put Jane.

X

a reply to: Cymru
Thank you.
My father owned a petrol cum tyre depot
...and another thing as far as the Brexit angle goes..... EU drivers have double tanks on their rigs (particularly Polish), so they can get in and out of UK without having to fuel up here!!! But British rigs going over to EU...not a chance, no double tanks allowed!!!
You ask any HGV driver who goes abroad and the amenities for truckers (truck stops) are outstanding and heavily subsidised. The drivers are also on better wages. Here in UK there are a few privately run truck stops but are few and far between and eat away at the truckers hard earned income. The haulage industry in UK needs a good over-haul (no slight pun intended). Their wages need sorting, truck stops need reviewing etc, etc.
Not only was this blown up by the media, my local BP garage just off the M5 (Ashchurch/Tewkesbury) has ran out of ALL fuel at least 4 times in last month. I know my father's opinion of BP and I smelt a rat then when it first happened. Something stinks, and it's not the petrol or diesel!
Rainbows
Jane

There is no petrol shortage. There is a HGV Driver shortage. Why? Well, once upon a time being a truck driver was a decent job. Obviously can't have that so corporations and the government went out of their way to make it a horrible job with dreadful conditions and next to no benefits so that the only people willing to do it would be immigrants from third world countries and post-communist hellholes.

For a while this worked out okay for everyone except the now-jobless British trucker, but now it's come back to bite them.

Of course Instead of making it a more desirable job to hold, they simply opted to slash the requirements to scary levels (don't even have to be able to park the thing) and grant "temporary" driver visas for migrants.

I would blame Johnson but truthfully it is the sheer greed, corruption, incompetence and contempt of multiple governments stretching back decades.

The petrol station at the bottom of the hill that we live on ran out of all kinds of fuel over the weekend. People were queuing up at 6am on Saturday morning, which was just insanity. At one point it was completely shut - but people were still queuing! I have no words for the panic buying sheep out there. There's plenty of petrol, its just the delivery drivers being tempted away from better wages elsewhere.

a reply to: AngryCymraeg
I managed to get fuel from ASDA petrol station just now, however they’ve limited purchases to £30 which will just about get me home.

THERE AINT NO SHORTAGE. It's the bloody BBC again blowing up a minor issue. Yes, there is some shortages in places, but this has been cause by the panic buyers creating the shortage in the stations and because of the mass emptying, the tankers can only cover so much.
Give it a few days and the petrol stations will be full , bbuuuttt, if the mass of people have filled up they wont need fuel for a few weeks.
It is the media that's caused this and they should be totally ashamed of themselves. But they wont.
Another thing, my nephew drives a tanker out of a big depot not 5 miles from where I live aaannndd THERE AINT NO SHORTAGE OF TANKER DRIVERS.

a reply to: crayzeed

For sure, more evidence of media induced mass hysteria.

thanks to all for info, esp Angel and Andy.

It would be nice if we are seeing a shakeup in which underpaid people like truckers and fast food workers will come out better off.

I'm all for capitalism and free markets, but I have no use for the heartless cutthroat stuff we see sometimes.

outside of politics, is there anyone NOT underpaid?

originally posted by: lordcomac
Looking at the replies, it sounds like a scam to increase prices for a bit.

This times a million

during the lockdowns prices were reduced by nearly a 1/3 at pumps in the UK, my betting is that the CEOs of these companies wanted a method to recoup/steal money for there already bulging wallets

“Petrol also has a shelf life of around 6 months“

Some Einstein decided to put a conditioner in this 35 yr. old boats fuel tanks.
Once it got rough the filters began to get overwhelmed by varnish flakes.
With fuel pressure of 8 pounds we sailed through the dike on our last set of filters.
Yeah....not a fun ride home...

Sorry if this is a slide, maybe no one should reply....


a reply to: angelchemuel

a reply to: AndyMayhew

Every petrol station in the largish town where I live has run out, it started on Friday.
I noticed there was even more traffic on the roads today though than usual. I would have thought people would be trying to conserve the fuel they have not use it up!

As to it will all be back to normal in a few days let’s hope so, but considering how long it took to re stock shelves with toilet roll before it sold out again I’m not so sure..

This will impact businesses massively, which will in turn impact massively the panic buyers if they keep filling their tanks. The media needs to be held accountable for blowing up stories to the point where they aren’t even true and they know it.

Isn’t that fake news?

a reply to: ElGoobero

This sums it up perfectly.

"I'm only queuing because everybody else is"

Sheeples .

a reply to: ElGoobero
Just for your information petrol tanker drivers are very, very well paid.

Looking forward to when our overseas cousins start fighting over guzzolene. My money is on Tom Hardy.