AIBU to think that the media focus on 'panic buying' switches the blame from the utter mess that the Conservative government have made of Brexit (lack of a workforce) - to 'us' for panic buying.

[Deansgate]

What a shit show, I can't believe that we are struggling to get something as basic as petrol and having to put in place a system to bring in drivers from abroad.
So much for 'Great' Britain.

There wouldn’t be a shortage if people didn’t panic buy. The vast majority of petrol stations have made a lot of money over the weekend by strategically hiking up their prices and are probably having a rare Sunday off. Hopefully most idiots will have a full tank of petrol for the week and things will return to normal by Wednesday.
It has nothing to do with the government and all to do with our irresponsible media.
Who knows why BP have encountered problems, mismanagement, hidden problems, maybe they are not paying the going rate for tanker drivers.
There has been a massive increase in online ordering which maybe has shifted the workforce from essential to non essential delivery. Perhaps we should be encouraging people to get off their arses and start doing their own shopping again.

I think the numerous threads and really interesting debates on here have actually thrown up a whole host off reasons for these issues.

@Angrymum22
Hear hear.

here wouldn’t be a shortage if people didn’t panic buy. Maybe the panic buying merely exacerbated the situation - the petrol pumps ran out this weekend rather than next.

@MereDintofPandiculation

here wouldn’t be a shortage if people didn’t panic buy. Maybe the panic buying merely exacerbated the situation - the petrol pumps ran out this weekend rather than next.

That's not how it works, the stations largely run on just in time deliveries, based on historical average usage, majority will receive and are currently receiving their scheduled deliveries without problem, it's just there's a lot more people are there buying fuel than usual or expected.

The initial "shortages" was a literal handful of petrol stations, in a certain area, out of 8000 stations overall that were struggling to get some deliveries, which was blown way out of proportion and reported on rather recklessly.

I'm no fan of the Government.
I was definitely against Brexit
However the petrol chaos this weekend is totally down to the media stirring it up into something it wasn't, and then the selfish idiots who didn't need petrol going out and filling their tanks, IMO.

Just another popping in to say that the current petrol issue is entirely down to the media.

Biker absolutely correct no industry carries stock anymore. It ties up cash and because we have developed efficient logistics systems there has been a fine balance. The media, and particularly social media are entirely to blame for tipping the balance.

I think you can reasonably accuse the media of irresponsible reporting but ultimately every individual who went to top up "just in case" has contributed the current fuel shortages at petrol stations.

Apart from a few petrol stations fuel deliveries would have continued as normal and met normal demand,this weekend the demand has exceeded supply because so many behaved as if the end of the world was nigh. Human beings can behave in exasperating ways sometimes.

That's what's been said. 'We' are to blame for no petrol, rather than Brexit decisions leaving insufficient HGV drivers.

This mess lies at the government's door, not ours.

Nope, you can’t blame Brexit for this one honey. It’s idiots panic buying that causes it, nothing else.

According to DH's lorry driving instructor friend, there is no shortage of newly-trained lorry drivers.

There is, however, a massive backlog of HGV driving tests waiting to be done.

I'm not really sure how we're blaming the government for the shortage of drivers as opposed to the companies who recruit drivers for lack of foresight?

That's not how it works, the stations largely run on just in time deliveries, based on historical average usage, majority will receive and are currently receiving their scheduled deliveries without problem, it's just there's a lot more people are there buying fuel than usual or expected. Which is all fine and good when there is no shortage of drivers. But there is a shortage of drivers, so there would have been shortages here and there - it's just been exacerbated by people having the foresight to fill up now rather than risk a problem just before a really essential journey - aka panic buying.

There are no fuel production problems. There is no shortage of stock at refineries or distribution depots. There have not been fewer or smaller fuel deliveries to petrol stations than has been normal over the past few months. There has been no increase in fuel usage (mileages are still not back to pre-pandemic levels). The only real difference is the massive increase in the amount of fuel in the tanks of people who have been panic buying.

A shortage of tanker drivers means the industry is struggling to make extra unscheduled deliveries to petrol stations.

The good news is that the problem is self limiting and temporary due to the inability of people to hoard petrol, as they can't buy more than the size of their tank, whereas last year, people could buy an unlimited number of toilet rolls.

@FrippEnos

Just another popping in to say that the current petrol issue is entirely down to the media.

And me.

I love the fact that people are “blaming” the media but are failing to engage in critical thinking as to why? Really? The media?

I remember when there was a run on northern rock just before it went bust. Were people panicking then when they queued for their cash? Turns out not.

Now, I’m not suggesting that petrol is going to run out. But - and let’s be clear - there is an issue with petrol in some cases. When was the last time that happened?

Why are people so quick to deny that we do have a problem?

Also, the last time I checked, the media were reporting that there was panic buying. Why would they whip up fake stories just to get you to panic buy 🤨

And YANBU OP.

It’s a neat trick really. Yet again distract from the shit show of our government. If there was no issue then why does the government need to introduce a temporary visa scheme?

We’ve had covid for 18 months. This should not have been a fucking surprise.

Iggly

It was one petrol group (BP) that had a problem with fewer than 1% total of stations.

The media has blown this out of all proportion.

I still believe that the government is a shit show, but this is downb to poor reporting by the media.

The root cause is no one trusts this government. No matter how "fun" Boris is.

The second they announced there was no need to panic, people knew they were lying.

For gods sake it was only 2 weeks ago they whacked up NI and froze the pension lock - despite a manifesto pledge they wouldn't. Why in the name of all that is Holy would anyone believe a word they say now. Especially (as with so many people buying fuel) if your livelihood and family depended on it.

@FrippEnos

Iggly

It was one petrol group (BP) that had a problem with fewer than 1% total of stations.

The media has blown this out of all proportion.

I still believe that the government is a shit show, but this is downb to poor reporting by the media.

When it happened in my town it was driven by Facebook reports where a petrol station had run out.

How should the media have reported it? I think suggesting that the media have blown it out of proportion let’s the government off the hook. Again. It’s a problem that they’ve had to resolve - so it must be important for them to step in.

The roads should be quiet tomorrow. All those people who now have a full tank of petrol but don’t need to use their car daily will be sitting at home frightened to waste a drop of it unnecessarily. Well I hope they all stay at home. Perhaps we should start a rumour that stocks won’t be replenished for at least a couple of weeks.

@SerendipityJane

The root cause is no one trusts this government. No matter how "fun" Boris is.

The second they announced there was no need to panic, people knew they were lying.

For gods sake it was only 2 weeks ago they whacked up NI and froze the pension lock - despite a manifesto pledge they wouldn't. Why in the name of all that is Holy would anyone believe a word they say now. Especially (as with so many people buying fuel) if your livelihood and family depended on it.

This. Maybe they weren’t lying this time, but if the electorate put in power a man who is known above all for lying and not taking things seriously, then how on earth is the country to know when it should listen to them?

@Angrymum22

The roads should be quiet tomorrow. All those people who now have a full tank of petrol but don’t need to use their car daily will be sitting at home frightened to waste a drop of it unnecessarily. Well I hope they all stay at home. Perhaps we should start a rumour that stocks won’t be replenished for at least a couple of weeks.

They are more likely to be waiting for news of the tanker arriving and rushing out with cans to get more.