Fuel has joined toilet paper, pasta and soap as the latest thing to be panic bought by UK consumers - although this time the pandemic is thought to be only partly to blame, with some petrol stations missing out on deliveries yesterday because of a big shortage of HGV drivers - this news in turn led to some panic buying, which had led to the current situation of some fuel stations running out of fuel today.

While other countries across Europe are also experiencing difficulties with their supply chains, the problem in the UK is thought to have been exacerbated by Britain's exit from the European Union.

Grant Shapps was quick to clarify today that the UK does actually have plenty of petrol and diesel and that drivers should buy fuel as normal, telling the BBC that refineries have "plenty of petrol".

Not all people are sad at the pumps being empty, however, with some suggesting a lack of available fuel could mean quieter roads. Others have noted the irony of Britain transforming into a nation of outdoor enthusiasts over lockdown, and then panic-buying petrol again at the first mention of shortages.

Could a silver lining in this latest supply crisis be quieter roads to cycle on because everyone has run out of petrol? The only problem being that malt loaf, bananas and jelly sweets are invariably delivered to their final destinations via lorry, so we might not be able to ride very far without getting super tired...

https://road.cc/content/news/cycling-live-blog-24-june-2021-286613#live-blog-item-28041

On 24/09/2021 03:20 pm, swldx...@gmail.com wrote:

> Fuel has joined toilet paper, pasta and soap as the latest thing to be panic bought by UK consumers - although this time the pandemic is thought to be only partly to blame, with some petrol stations missing out on deliveries yesterday because of a big shortage of HGV drivers - this news in turn led to some panic buying, which had led to the current situation of some fuel stations running out of fuel today.
>
> While other countries across Europe are also experiencing difficulties with their supply chains, the problem in the UK is thought to have been exacerbated by Britain's exit from the European Union.
>
> Grant Shapps was quick to clarify today that the UK does actually have plenty of petrol and diesel and that drivers should buy fuel as normal, telling the BBC that refineries have "plenty of petrol".
>
> Not all people are sad at the pumps being empty, however, with some suggesting a lack of available fuel could mean quieter roads. Others have noted the irony of Britain transforming into a nation of outdoor enthusiasts over lockdown, and then panic-buying petrol again at the first mention of shortages.
>
> Could a silver lining in this latest supply crisis be quieter roads to cycle on because everyone has run out of petrol? The only problem being that malt loaf, bananas and jelly sweets are invariably delivered to their final destinations via lorry, so we might not be able to ride very far without getting super tired...
>
> https://road.cc/content/news/cycling-live-blog-24-june-2021-286613#live-blog-item-28041

The sub-literate idiots at road.cc really are a bunch of miserable and
spiteful misanthropes, aren't they?

I can remember the sinking feeling of not being able to get fuel in
1973, 1979 and 2000 and thereby not being able to get to work. It's
nothing like as important to me now, and a tankful (filled up this
morning, so did my wife) will last me well over a month. Buy does that
mean that I should take pleasure in the misfortune of others?

No, it does not.

Only people with a screw loose do that.

Ask yourself whether that description applies to you. If it does, you
could possibly get treatment for it. You certainly need it.

On Friday, September 24, 2021 at 3:20:53 PM UTC+1, swldx...@gmail.com wrote:
peted76 | 1953 posts | 1 min ago
0 likes

There's a guy at work who was running on fumes getting here.. of the five garages near the office, not one has any fuel.. he's had to call his dad! LOL

brooksby replied to OnTheRopes | 8055 posts | 3 hours ago
9 likes

I think the Govt's core problem here, when they are telling everyone "Don't Panic!", is that they have told so many lies so many times that nobody actually believes them any more; to the point where when they are saying "Don't worry, everything will be fine" you know we're probably facing an Extinction Level Event...

What fuel shortage? There isn't one , just a delivery problem. A few petrol stations didn't get deliveries yesterday, it was poorly reported, and now people are panic buying. Christ on a bike, what is the world coming to?

Sniffer replied to Pyro Tim | 1017 posts | 2 hours ago
0 likes

Even in normal times we are not far from draining the system of fuel.

All UK refineries are operating well below maximum throughput as demand has been lower than normal and margins extremely poor. Therefore there is no shortage of fuel available and capacity that can be brought on.

The problem is that there is far more 'storage' of fuel available in vehicles than in refineries and depots. If we assume that the average car fuel tank is 50% full (probably an overestimate) then if a significant number of people fill up 'just in case', which is more accurate than panic buying, then the supply chain will be disrupted hugely leading to local shortages.

Throw in driver shortages and we are not far away from local supply issues. I would expect them to be very short lived though. As once you have filled yoiur car, you can't fill it twice.

Pyro Tim replied to Sniffer | 81 posts | 1 hour ago
3 likes

Our whole supply chain for everything has been based on "Just In Time" for a long time. With the driver shortages, this can not happen at the moment. Factories will stop, there will be shortages on the shop shelves. It's caused in part by the problems with ocean freight, but mostly due to lack of drivers. As a Freight Forwarder, I have seen this 1st hand. I am struggling to get things collected, and when I can the prices have trippled. Poor driver facilities have stopped Brits wanting to work in haulage, and we've got by relying on Eastern Europeans who are prepared to put up with it. Until we start catering properly for drivers at service stations, and elsewhere, it's not going to get better, unless you raise salaries significantly. The lack of infrastructure for drivers is endemic here, and so much worse than the rest of Europe. I know Truckers are not a cyclists favourite group, but we can't live without them.

>
> https://road.cc/content/news/cycling-live-blog-24-june-2021-286613#live-blog-item-28041

On 24/09/2021 15:20, swldx...@gmail.com wrote:

> Could a silver lining in this latest supply crisis be quieter roads
> to cycle on because everyone has run out of petrol?

Unlikely. People are only queueing up to buy today what they would
normally buy next week.

On 27/09/2021 12:03 am, TMS320 wrote:

> On 24/09/2021 15:20, swldx...@gmail.com wrote:
>
>> Could a silver lining in this latest supply crisis be quieter roads to
>> cycle on because everyone has run out of petrol?

> Unlikely. People are only queueing up to buy today what they would
> normally buy next week.

Correct.

There could be a short-term effect as drivers seek to conserve fuel for
"important" journeys only in anticipation of not being able to refuel
when necessary, but it won't last long.

Let's see... I filled up to the brim on Friday morning and carried on to
the main dealers to order a replacement part (return journey of about
forty miles). I picked up a couple of friends in the evening and did
about another five miles in the process. But I won't (need to) use a car
again until Wednesday when I drop the same car off for service and MOT.
I'll collect that spare part on Thursday (in another car). It'd take me
- or rather, us - at least a month to run out at our rate of use. And
that's per car. So we're probably self-sufficient until November at least.