Panic at the Pumps

[Carth]

BBC news page made me laugh. . . two ways to report the current S. East situation:

20% of petrol stations still have no fuel

or

80% of petrol stations now have fuel


which one did they choose

I would think most people have filled up by now, even when they didnt need to, so stations should be quieter than normal.

[Halcyon]

Thankgoodness the problem is sorting itself out.


I was worried Chris Rea would be walking home for Christmas.

Retired,a tank 3/4 full and nowhere to go. I had no need to panic.

Interesting take on part of the reason for the shortage ;

The Government’s switch to greener petrol was a “major factor” behind the fuel crisis, industry chiefs reveal.

Petrol retailers were ‘emptying their tanks’ for the switchover to E10 fuel when garages were swiftly drained by panic buying

Government figures reveal fuel deliveries to petrol stations remained steady over the summer despite warnings of a lack of HGV drivers.

Yet the amount of spare fuel stored fell sharply by up to 12% after Sept 1, when the Government introduced greener E10 fuel as the standard.

I don’t blame the Government particularly but the E10 switchover clearly had an unintended consequence” said Brian Madderson, chairman of the Petrol Retailers Association

Yes, I’m seeing that “it has emerged” in various press outlets this morning. And so we discover the Petrol Retailers Association, just like the Road Haulage Association, instinctively blamed handy external factors for its problems while ignoring business decisions taken a little closer to home.

Of course with road haulage, chronic low pay and poor conditions has been the industry’s own fault. It’s unclear whether switching forecourts from E5 to E10 could have been done in a way that didn’t deliberately run down supply quite as much as it seems to have done. Still, a little honesty would have been better than lazy bandwagon hopping.

[spiderplant]

Not very credible. Surely if retailers wanted to run down their stocks of E5, they'd have done that in August, ready for the 1st September switchover?

Though I don't understand the need to run down the tanks at all. Petrol labelled E10 is up to 10% ethanol, so couldn't they sell E5, or an E5/E10 mix, and label it as E10? I filled up in late August and the pump was already labelled E10.

[1andrew1]

Originally Posted by spiderplant

Not very credible. Surely if retailers wanted to run down their stocks of E5, they'd have done that in August, ready for the 1st September switchover?

Though I don't understand the need to run down the tanks at all. Petrol labelled E10 is up to 10% ethanol, so couldn't they sell E5, or an E5/E10 mix, and label it as E10? I filled up in late August and the pump was already labelled E10.

Agreed.
How long do stocks last in tanks? Supermarket stations get filled up 2-3 times a day, suburban petrol stations every other day.

I’ve seen pumps at a few places I’ve stopped at over the past couple of months labelled E10 but locked off with a sign saying it won’t be in use until after a certain date. I don’t know why they’ve done it that way but it does seem that some places have been keeping empty tanks beneath their forecourts.

I wouldn’t be surprised if there’s a rule against grade-mixing at the forecourt though, even if the law allows E10 to be less than 10% ethanol.

[jfman]

I assume that diesel drivers were unaffected by the shortages?

[papa smurf]

Originally Posted by jfman

I assume that diesel drivers were unaffected by the shortages?

When i went they had E10 and no diesel or E5,but the garage around the corner had it all, that was 2 weeks ago ,yesterday all was back to normal.

[1andrew1]

Originally Posted by papa smurf

When i went they had E10 and no diesel or E5,but the garage around the corner had it all, that was 2 weeks ago ,yesterday all was back to normal.

There was a diesel-only Tesco petrol station by the Tesco Extra near me with cars only being let in through bollards once they'd confirmed they were diesel to staff. I guess they'd had enough of motorists not seeing their diesel-only signs.

Other petrol stations open after a delivery for a day, closing once it's all used up. It's still not back to normal yet here.

Originally Posted by jfman

I assume that diesel drivers were unaffected by the shortages?

That assumption is faulty - once the perception of shortages spread, the panic buying ensured it was so.

Originally Posted by 1andrew1

Supermarket stations get filled up 2-3 times a day, suburban petrol stations every other day.

Says who ?

Ive worked in them in the past, and know people who still do.
No way do they refil that often, it would be permanant chaos at supermarket sites.

[1andrew1]

Next shortage apparently is tin foil, threatening our supplies of pies! Have people been making hats out of it or something?
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...nning-low.html