All the people panic buying petrol

[Shitfuckcommaetc]

Are fucking selfish, and will be the first to moan when they're takeaway can't be delivered, they can't get a taxi, or places are short staffed as people CAN'T GET TO WORK

god I'm pissed off

Well, when I needed petrol a week ago, before the Government told people not to panic and everyone started queueing at petrol stations, there was no petrol left in the first 3 petrol stations I went to in the town where I live, and only expensive premium unleaded in the fourth, so there was a genuine problem before people started panic buying! It was certainly an advert not to wait to fill up until you have a low fuel warning going off in your car, if nothing else. Fortunately, I was able to fill up a couple of days later, still no queues to do so, as no-one had been told they had anything to worry about, so currently have plenty of petrol in the tank. I’m hoping things will have calmed down by the next time I need to fill up, as I do not fancy queueing, and on the motorway, today, there were signs up warning upcoming service stations had no fuel, so woe betide anyone who set out on a journey assuming they would prioritise ensuring motorway service stations didn’t run out, as I passed 3 on my journey and they had all run out.

@Pugmumm

OP it's not the people blame the media!!!

The media do not force people to go out and be idiots.

What was said on TV: A couple of petrol stations had closed due to delays in getting petrol/diesel.

What people heard: Shit we must go and buy as much petrol as possible as their will be a shortage.

Thick people are to blame and they are the ones who made it a huge issue.

@dearfanny

We have a quarter tank. The roads into our town were blocked by queues of cars

Im leaving it. Not going far next week anyway. Itll have died off next week

Anyone remember a similar situation in the early 00s? Maybr 99 or 2000? It was a strike i think

It was 2000 and it was this exact weekend! I remember as it was the year I went to university and people couldn't get to uni. My uni actually started the week before so we were fine. It was due to protests outside refineries and people blocking the tankers as a protest against fuel prices going over a £1! Imagine that now!

Those pictures in the Mail of people filling up anything they can get hold of. I hope they are ashamed of themselves.

Had this from Dbro earlier::

Yesterday I came home from holiday and visiting DC at uni, I didn’t need to fill up, but would have arrived home low to empty empty and knew I would have to queue on the car park that is the M25. First garage I arrived at was busy but no queue so I didn’t see an issue and filled up, next garage the same, this was lunchtime. After that every garage I passed had queues, in my home town the BP has run out, the Esso has/had fuel and a long queue. In the next town the whole place was gridlocked with people queuing so the police closed the garages.

DH is very smug as he has an electric car, although as he can’t work from home it is a relief.

@JessieJo15

Plus there isn’t actually a shortage anyway, other than that caused by panic buyers. Airlines won’t be panic buying aviation fuel

It depends how you look at it. There is not a shortage of fuel but there is a shortage of drivers to get the fuel to the filling stations. So there is a shortage of fuel in the location it needs to be.

This in itself would not have been a problem. It is the medias fault for making a mountain out of a molehill and obviously the morons have flocked to the pumps.

The initial driver shortages reported were very minimal. BP saying it was closing something like 5 out of it’s 1200 petrol stations. Various other companies, including Asda, stating they had no supply issues. The panic buyers blew it completely out of proportion.

I was happy with my 1/4 tank until I saw the bedlam ensue. I felt then I must queue for some because if I didn’t I would be fucked for work next week. So yeah, the histeria was contagious! Do I feel like I was an idiot - no because now there is no fuel here and I’d not have been able to get to work as I’m semi rural. If you sit back doing the apparent right thing while everyone else doesn’t then you lose out don’t you!

@Bluejeanjen if everyone does the 'right thing', or just their normal thing, there isn't a problem (if there's no problem with underlying supply).

The irony is there's no fuel in your area - because everyone of you bought the fuel. And then felt relieved you bought the fuel because there's no fuel!

This new petrol E10 has finally been accepted. Cynical person might be wondering about the amount being sold putting coins into the system. Is petrol in an inflation basket?
The media whipped up a frenzy really well this time. Worse than paparazzi and phone tapping perhaps?

@Annoyedanddissapointed
It costs me £1.40 to charge my electric car using my home charger.

I will get approx 180 miles for that. So even with a 50% increase in electricity costs I'm still saving an absolute fortune compared to petrol or diesel

Once people are panic buying, to make sure your own supply is secure is completely logical.

@DottyHarmer

Nice. Actually it is more important for people to get to work. The petrol will be back in a few days. Unless people are running very low there is no need to clog up the streets to panic buy.

How do you know that some of those older people don't work? Or that younger people aren't WFH, or walking in? Who made you the petrol police?

I think it's just human instinct, we can't help ourselves.

It's the same on a plane when you've landed. Someone will jump up into the aisle desperate to be the first off. Creating a domino effect of people hustling to get their stuff from lockers and rushing to queue in the aisles to get off the plane ASAP.

And then everyone stands and waits at the luggage carousel 🤣

Having read the full thread, I have concluded the obvious problem is you selfish gits who live in the countryside and can't get to work or anywhere else without petrol. If you would just all move to nice, eco-efficient cities (not necessarily London) and pay enough tax to fund local transport you wouldn't be gulping all the gas. Just because you selfishly want more space and garden and don't want to pay their true cost!

@wewereliars just to be clear once 'people' are panic buying, if you then 'secure your supply' too too have joined the panic buying. There are not special categories of 'I'm only panic buying because you are'

[quote JesusIsAnyNameFree]@MereDintofPandiculation

Yes, it will.[/quote]
If you really believe that, there's no point in talking to you further.

[quote uggmum]@Annoyedanddissapointed
It costs me £1.40 to charge my electric car using my home charger.

I will get approx 180 miles for that. So even with a 50% increase in electricity costs I'm still saving an absolute fortune compared to petrol or diesel [/quote]
Enjoy it whilst it lasts. One day road charging will be introduced, to replace the revenue the government will be losing from fuel duty.

The road fuel situation was triggered deliberately by someone in the road freight industry. They want, and are lobbying the government to allow emergency visas for foreign drivers, or to put the sector on the official shortage occupation list to allow more formal immigration, and they definitely don't want to pay increased wages to attract UK workers. To put pressure on the government, details of BP's submission to the Cabinet Office (from about 10 days ago) were deliberately leaked to the press.

BP had said that over recent weeks, it had problems supplying around 8% of it's forecourts, and less than 2% had temporarily had to close for a short periods but they were managing the situation and it was not yet a crisis. The media, as is usual, overreacted, selectively sensationalised and exaggerated the situation, leading to people (or should that be sheeple) rushing to petrol stations to fill up.

As a matter of interest it can take about 4 weeks for an HGV driver to become a petrol tanker driver due to the requirements of the Carriage of Dangerous Goods by Road regulations, which involves an academic course and exam, followed by specific training on fuel tankers. The time they have to wait includes time for the exam results to be processed and the amendments made to their licence before they can deliver fuel.

If the media didn’t put up dramatic stories then nobody would know and everyone would just be buying their normal amount

@wewereliars

Once people are panic buying, to make sure your own supply is secure is completely logical.

Agreed. I’ve ‘secured my own supply’ by filling up my car on Thursday evening rather than tomorrow when I would normally have done it. However I fully accept that I am guilty of panic buying.

I am a long distance Courier & I need a full tank almost daily.
I will not be able to work this week properly. Need compensation from Govrmnt as they have created another mess adding to their covid mess up.

Nayday I'm sure that made sense in your head, to everyone else, not so much.

jcyclops I'm sure someone has a bridge to sell you somewhere

@MereDintofPandiculation

Well, I will leave the gardener a note on Monday to tell him his 40 or so years in the business have taught him nothing about how to keep a lawn nice and weed free. He will appreciate that I'm sure. It will be instead of the tip.

@wewereliars 'you' became 'too', auto correct.

'Securing your supply' as you term it, is also panic buying.

Is that simple enough for you?