to be particularly worried about this fuel strike?

[StealthPolarBear]

Don't know why but it's making me feel very anxious. We managed through the last 2 so I don't know why it feels like this one will be different but it feels as though it will go on for longer and be more disruptive.

Over to you Francis Maude. Wriggle your way out of this one you twunt

Francis Maude like all Tories, by very nature a twunt and should be humanely euthanised with a lump hammer.

Whilst not wishing harm on anyone, this woman was wholly the architect of her own misfortune by her sheer stupidity.

Absolutely compos she was an utter idiot to attempt decanting petrol in a kitchen whilst the oven was lit. But But But But, as a government minister, highly paid, highly educated, Francis Maude should know that when you make any suggestions along the lines of the one he did, some idiot will do something so utterly foolish like this. The man should know better. Even my Fireman Sam obssessed 4 year old knows you shouldn't store petrol at home.

JustHecate you forgot to mention it is only 'one fuel company' that is even striking and thus only Tesco, BP & Asda petrol stations will be affected by the strike anyway!!!

Fucking hell, at 140.9/litre, £5 worth of petrol wouldn't get me home either! Was only 136.9 at the beginning of the week as well .

One of our local filling stations has just had a delivery (and haven't increased their prices) but there's a queue already.

I didn't know that gobbledegook about it only being Tesco, BP and Asda.

Good grief!

I filled on Monday, for no other reason that my light had been on a day or two (on leave atm, so no desperate need for car this week). I am away for the week in a caravan soon, so if I run out and there is no petrol avaliable for me to fill up, I get the lovely excuse of having to stay on holiday until some petrol becomes avaliable

I was very annoyed to pay 1.41 p/l when the last time I filled up I payed 1.32. Very, very cross.

I had read that that could affect up to 90% of petrol stations though. I'm sure I read that Unite drivers supply up to 90%?

But anyway - it's not even bloody happening yet if at all. People need to calm down about it.

I had to go into town this morning. Passed a petrol station and they're queueing down the road. It's NEVER that busy. There's no strike on. There's no fuel shortage. There's no POINT in panicking.

Well, there's a fuel shortage NOW of course

Well done unite. They may not have to strike at all. They've done rather well without losing even a day's pay!

Wolrdgonecrazy - curious you are not blaming the very people who caused this panic! Did you vote for the stupid fuckers them by any chance?

You petrol drivers have had it lucky... lucky I say. I dream of paying £1.41 a litre. Us lucky diesel drivers in the south are paying upwards of £1.46 a litre.

yes but your diesel goes a lot further, silly

really? is that true? I'm a bit clueless when it comes to cars I'm getting about 42 mpg at the moment. How does that compare to petrol cars then?

depends on vehicle obviously, I would have been very happy if my defender got 42mpg on any sort of fuel, we would still be together now

generally that is why people put up with diesel vehicles isn't it, because they come out better overall on fuel consumption?

or maybe I am being silly

perhaps is not that simple

Oh I didn't know that Mighty.. makes me feel a bit better now.

But still grrr at all those silly people queueing for petrol/diesel when they didn't need it. Last night, driving home from work at 10.30pm I was held up for 25 minutes in a traffic jam as people blocked the road at one particular petrol station. One guy was even blocking the lane on the opposite side of the road as he tried to cross over and get in the petrol station. It was mayhem. This morning as I drove in to work I followed a tanker for about 5 miles until it pulled in to a station, to much tooting and hooting. It was like the queen had just arrived :o

I get about 25 miles to the gallon.

wooly I am blaming the people who caused the panic, I just don't think it's the Government that have done so, it's the people who are filling up when they don't need to. If DC told people to stand on their head and whistle "Dixie" in the middle of the M1, how many would? People are being incredibly stupid about the whole affair, and that is what is causing the problem, not the Government.

ooh I might have to do that thingy at home later Mighty... can't download it here at work. We needed an estate car and when we were looking four years ago most of them were diesels so we didn't have much choice. Not sure that's true any more. There are many more petrol versions around.

Blimey Hec you need to trade in that Rolls Royce !

well I retract the silly comment anyway :)

if I drive in a super careful way I can get about 38mpg (without airconditioning) but if I drive in my normal way about 29, how did I ever run two vehicles (especially guzzly off roaders like the defender) I suppose having a job helped

Stealth, I wouldn't worry so much about losing your job through being unable to get there due to the fuel strike. Your employers have to get to work too, right and everyone is in the same (wind powered) boat. Also, there will be other implications for your business which they will have to plan and account for such as deliveries or stock and supplies which may not be able to get through as well as how they will mobilise staff and keep on operating normally. Most companies have top-level plans in place for things like this as well as major issues such as terrorism and the Olympics.

headfairy generally speaking diesel is more expensive but generally gets more mpg compared to its petrol counter part.

My new car is getting about 38mpg around town which is better than my mast 2 cars that got about 28-30mpg.

Petrol round here is averaging £1.44 per litre, diesel £1.51 per litre!!

Anyway the current news update is they have confirmed there will be no strikes until after the easter holidays if at all.

SophieLeGiraffe You've made a lot of assumptions about other people's work situations. What if you work for a small business that doesn't have such things as 'top-level plans', and the boss manages to get fuel when you don't, and s/he's not the most understanding of people? S/he might not actually sack you on the spot for not getting in, but your card might be marked. This is not a good climate to be falling out of favour with the boss.

blimey gobbledegook where are you, even here in the greedy South East I haven't seen prices like that. In fact none of the garages I drive past regularly have changed their prices in the last couple of days.

Quenelle sadly I think you're right there.

also is just a bit insulting and simplistic to dismiss the anxiety this sort of thing provokes isn't it? you can rationalise a lot of it away but it is unsettling and I don't blame anyone for queuing and stockpiling based on how they perceive their own fuel needs

I have a background in cost benefit analysis so am a complete anorak on the subject of how expensive it is to run my car. Works out as:

15p/mile fuel
29-ishp/mile repairs, servicing, parts, labour. This is the first killer. What a lemon.
22-ishp/mile depreciation (other killer, this is why I put a range in, should get definite figure in next fortnight because I want to see back of it forever).

VED (tax), MOT, insurance are all EXTRA. Those are fixed costs. It costs about £550/yr just to have my car sitting on the drive ready to go. Car costs that much even if it never goes anywhere.

Our previous car probably cost half as much to run, but fuel was cheaper 3 yrs ago, too.

it seems to me like people who need to fill up 2-3x/week aren't really going to refuel any more often than usual, are they? How would they have time for that, on top of all the driving they need to be doing (for work, etc.)? I think the panic buyers are most likely to be the folk who usually refuel 1-2x/fortnight. I would love to collect stats & analyse the social character profiles of panic buyers, too.