The "Fuel" problem

Real strange one this - panic triggered by the news that there might be a shortage of fuel if people were to begin to panic buy; cue the great British public. That's not fair actually, whilst there will always be the odd nobhead who goes too far, you can't really pin this one on the public, as predictable as the reaction has been.

What is the correct individual response to panic buying? Not to panic buy? All well and good, but less so when you realise your moral high horse isn't going to carry you to work or take your kids to school. Once a few start doing it, there's an inevitable ripple effect and even the most measured and sensible of society have to join in with the madness like everybody else.

I caught wind of this on Thursday evening so went out to fill both mine and my wife's cars up so that we'd have enough fuel to see us through to the end of this week. I was the only one there at that point. My prediction was, and still is, that things would go temporarily batshít but that any panic buying of this nature can only last a few days - the fundamental issue is an artificial surge in demand, not supply (as was the case in the 2000 fuel crisis). Right now, an overwhelming majority of cars in this country have close to a full tank - supplies will replenish and those who need more should be able to get it without much drama within the next couple of days.

A totally contrived situation whipped up by mainstream media. I get that journalism is a tough gig these days, and clicks are king, but there's also a responsibility that comes with the power these news outlets naturally possess. There should be ramifications for individuals and / or networks who irresponsibly promote stories which in and of themselves cause stress and harm to many. Shysters, the lot of 'em.

It came out this morning that this was a problem just with a relatively small amount of BP stations.

What was of concern but no surprise was that it was initially discussed at a cabinet meeting and then leaked to the press who as they tend to do in this 24 hour broadcasting age repeated the same news over and over again.

The tabloids have also had their usual alarmist approach with the Sun (no surprises) going completely OTT.

What didn’t help was that this came to light at the start of a weekend when many people have free time on their hands.

No different to the start of the pandemic, when people were asked not to panic buy in supermarkets. Cue people buying 400 loo rolls and 20 loaves of bread.

Bit like like lemmings heading towards the cliff the one heading in the opposite direction is the odd one out.Panic buying is a logical rational response to a perceived shortage.It's those who cause the perception of a shortage who are to blame.

Quoted from blundellpork

No different to the start of the pandemic, when people were asked not to panic buy in supermarkets. Cue people buying 400 loo rolls and 20 loaves of bread.

I had to throw away 400 loo rolls and 20 loaves of bread out of my garage to make room for my 10 Gerry cans of petrol.  I can't stand people who panic

Quoted from rancido

The morons are the haulage/fuel distributors for coming out with these "shortage" statements and joe public reacting in their typical selfish manner.

Talking to a lorry driver today that I know, he said it is the haulage industry creating this problem as they want the Government to ease restrictions on EU migrants so that they can employ cheap labour again.

Quoted from golfer

I had to throw away 400 loo rolls and 20 loaves of bread out of my garage to make room for my 10 Gerry cans of petrol.  I can't stand people who panic

And when you opened the garage doors, all that co2 escaped too.

Quoted from arryarryarry

Talking to a lorry driver today that I know, he said it is the haulage industry creating this problem as they want the Government to ease restrictions on EU migrants so that they can employ cheap labour again.

The fact is, there aren't enough lorry drivers. There was a shortage of lorry drivers before the media and politicians started talking about Brexit.
This isn't about cheap labour, it's about trained labour.

Panic buying is down to those members of the public who went out to buy petrol unnecessarily. The problem was only with one network, but people still rushed out in numbers much higher than normal.

The root cause of the problem is a lack of qualified drivers working. Whether that’s through age (the age profile of the industry is comparatively high); unattractive conditions; unsociable hours; pay; Covid. It’s made worse by the fact our labour market got suddenly less flexible in January. It didn’t need to be like this, even with Brexit. A phased changeover could have been delivered if the government wanted to. Just another of the self-inflicted injuries.

We’ve had decades of refusal to act on pay and conditions (“allow the market to set them” has been the mantra). The party in government were the biggest foot draggers of them all. CONSTANTLY opposing EU directives limiting working hours, opposing controls on the transport industry and working conditions*, opposing the introduction of the minimum wage and successive rises in it. They broke the power of the unions. Allowed the growth of do-called self-employment to undermine workers ability to get statutory employees’ rights.

* even when they accepted them they didn’t resource the policing of them properly. One of the reasons east European drivers preferred working here was because, unlike Germany, they could work all the hours God sends so they can speed up their saving and settle home again with a nest egg. In the process endangering other road users because they were knackered.

Quoted from wigworld

The fact is, there aren't enough lorry drivers. There was a shortage of lorry drivers before the media and politicians started talking about Brexit.
This isn't about cheap labour, it's about trained labour.

According to my mate, it's about poor pay and the way he was treated as he may not likely return to lorry driving.