[mcscoobs]

I heard a story yesterday which made me laugh. The missus' old man plays Lawn bowls, and he overheard a conversation from one of the oldies there. it turns out, this guy queued for however long to get fuel. Got to the pump and topped up what he had currently in the tank, to full. Do you want to know how much it came to? £2.50. He was told by the petrol station staff he'd be banned if he did that again.

Some things really bring out the worst in people don't they?

[JustChris]

Was going last ASDA saw it had no queues, topped up the £30 limit and full now for a week+

Doesn't seem that big an issue here now.

[JustChris]

Originally Posted by mcscoobs

I heard a story yesterday which made me laugh. The missus' old man plays Lawn bowls, and he overheard a conversation from one of the oldies there. it turns out, this guy queued for however long to get fuel. Got to the pump and topped up what he had currently in the tank, to full. Do you want to know how much it came to? £2.50. He was told by the petrol station staff he'd be banned if he did that again.

Some things really bring out the worst in people don't they?

Old Person FOMO

[Kam05]

Last week it was the energy crisis, energy companies going bust and this week its a fuel "crisis"!

So much for fuel poverty if you look at the queues at the forecourt. Oh that's right whack on the credit card and we'll deal with it later...

[aquazi]

Originally Posted by AndyCKent

At the risk of getting shot down in flames, I wonder how many of those in the queues genuinely do need fuel now?

I do 150 miles a week to commute for work so with weekend stuff, a tank tends to last me almost 3 weeks but come next weekend I am going to have to fill up, even if it means sitting in a queue with everyone else!

Wife has half a tank but has a trip planned to see her family for several days in a fairly rural area so its 100 miles each way plus driving whilst there. She is not desperate for fuel but once there, she may not easily be able to get it, hence trying to fill up now. Its that or cancel the trip which has been planned months.

You can call everyone in the queues whatever you want but many will genuinely need fuel at this point, especially those who have avoided it until now but found themselves nearing empty.

With so many places out of fuel, people often cannot risk leaving it until nearly empty so they fill up with half a tank knowing they don't have to worry about risking it later on. We live in a village so require a car to get places, especially with a young child who needs childcare as we both work. Not everyone drives 5 miles a week and panicking buying despite having 3/4 of a tank.

I filled up on saturday morning at Costco… and will need another fill up tomorrow.

Do 375miles a week which is a tank on the S5…. Trip to london on the weekend means i’m down to my last 1/4 now….

Cant be dealing with £30 limit as that just means another fill up before the weekend

[Ennoch]

Scotland doesn't seem to be having the same issue, although no doubt the continued talk in the media about it will mean it happens sometime. I'm heading north in the Impreza this weekend so fingers crossed there'll still be super available, although I'll stick the usual half dozen bottles of booster in the boot just in case. At least the local petrol station up there has said that if they get down to the last 20% of their tank they'll stop serving tourists more than enough to get to the next station and prioritise locals. When the nearest station is 25 miles away and the one beyond that either Ullapool or Contin, they're definitely doing the right thing to protect the locals and critical drivers. That said they don't seem to have had any issues, and luckily I count as a local that they'll serve!

[KRS_SN]

we are back from spending a lovely bank holiday weekend in newbiggin by the sea.The way back today saw many stations with 'sorry we are out of diesel' signs outside.
Had fuelled up a full tank last Wednesday so despite the trip had 200 miles of diesel left in the car.
Out of interest I drove to the local BP to check state of play. They were out of petrol and diesel but they had super diesel.
Many (diesel) cars were turning back once they saw only super diesel was left. ie not prepared to pay an extra 15p/litre.

[TouringPleb]

Took 4 garages on the way to work at 6am to find fuel but found Tesco in St Neots not only had fuel but no queues!

I'm good for 650 miles now!

[JR1664]

Originally Posted by TouringPleb

Took 4 garages on the way to work at 6am to find fuel but found Tesco in St Neots not only had fuel but no queues!

I'm good for 650 miles now!

It sounds like the time to go fuel hunting. I guess most fuel deliveries are done overnight.

This evening I did a minor trawl on the way home as down to a 1/4 of a tank , nine garages all out of fuel. Esso / BP / Tesco / Sainsbury the lot.

If numpties had kept to their normal routine there wouldn't be an issue. However the early signs were there I'm afraid and it didn't take much from our gutter press to agitate the Lemmings.

My brother works for a blind charity visiting patients and they have no fuel. Absolutely no contingency in place for carers etc.

[Armaan]

Originally Posted by JR1664

It sounds like the time to go fuel hunting. I guess most fuel deliveries are done overnight.

This evening I did a minor trawl on the way home as down to a 1/4 of a tank , nine garages all out of fuel. Esso / BP / Tesco / Sainsbury the lot.

If numpties had kept to their normal routine there wouldn't be an issue. However the early signs were there I'm afraid and it didn't take much from our gutter press to agitate the Lemmings.

My brother works for a blind charity visiting patients and they have no fuel. Absolutely no contingency in place for carers etc.

Sounds like you might be better in luck at independent garages.

Also Twitter and the such locally seem to be the place to find where fuel is.

Armaan

[Techno 9000]

Disgusted at the media creating this issue.

Watched BBC Breakfast last Friday morning as the co-presenters interviewed the Transport Secretary Grant Shapps. The presenters seemed hellbent on stoking up the narrative that there was a supply problem. Shapps pointed out that just 5 of 1200 BP stations were out of fuel, plenty was available at the depots. However the presenters kept up the pressure nevertheless, saying that due to a driver shortage this was going to be a problem. Shapps said don't panic buy, the presenters didn't take the hint, kept banging on.

With so many products, from food to fuel, sweets to sweatshirts, pretty much anything that is freely available 'off the shelf' to us without ordering, you can create a shortage by vastly exceeding normal demand, this is what was so certain once the BBC got their narrative out. Disgusting.

Edit. I'd love to see real statistics of fuel availability vs demand hour by hour over the last few weeks.

[Londoner]

Originally Posted by mcscoobs

Which Shell was it? The traffic from Bullsmoor lane went as far back as the A10/M25 roundabout, it's shocking...

Yes that's the one mate! The Bullsmoor Lane Shell and BP directly opposite it. The road up to the M25 has been at a standstill since at least Saturday morning. There were people going road rage crazy, trying to pass but both sides of the road blocked for hours on end due to the queues.

And it's all over London - any station that has any fuel causes gridlock all around it.

I get some people really do need fuel of course, but in my humble opinion it's just so selfish to block arterial roads like this. If you can't queue without traffic being able to pass then either park up and wait, or don't drive at all. My 340i is now sitting empty, I do really need the car this week to visit/care for a disabled mum and take stuff to a daughter who's just moved into student digs but I simply refuse to ignorantly block roads.

[Londoner]

Cops should IMO be making examples - if you're blocking a road that's surely some sort of highway code offence - mass ticket the idiots.

[Wills2]

Originally Posted by JustChris

Was going last ASDA saw it had no queues, topped up the £30 limit and full now for a week+

Doesn't seem that big an issue here now.

Still all empty round here, not sure when they all descend on them, although my local BP told me that they are queuing from 5am as they open at 6am and get a daily tanker delivery at midnight that lasts until lunchtime then they rinse and repeat.

[Russbmw]

I need to go to Birmingham and back for work tomorrow, so was pretty desperate this afternoon as I was down to less than 1/4.

A fair portion of surrey seems pretty fucked from what I could tell having passed a good 10 or so garages on my way (a very long way form Dorking to West Byfleet, so as to pass as many options as possible!) The only place I found this afternoon was a Tesco, and all they had was unleaded.

How glad was I that I've never jumped on the diesel bandwagon?!

Seriously though, what a fucking shitshow. We don't need a global virus/war/whatever to cripple the country and bring everything to a grinding halt. The undiluted stupidity and selfishness of what appears to be most of the nation means catastrophe can be incited at will by the media.

Reading the BBC news articles on the matter is laughable some of the quotes from government on the matter, they clearly have no idea of the reality of the situation the nation has put itself in.

Bring on my emigration in November, get out of this shithole run by a bunch of no talent ass clowns.

[Hartside]

Originally Posted by KRS_SN

we are back from spending a lovely bank holiday weekend in newbiggin by the sea.The way back today saw many stations with 'sorry we are out of diesel' signs outside.
Had fuelled up a full tank last Wednesday so despite the trip had 200 miles of diesel left in the car.
Out of interest I drove to the local BP to check state of play. They were out of petrol and diesel but they had super diesel.
Many (diesel) cars were turning back once they saw only super diesel was left. ie not prepared to pay an extra 15p/litre.

Your lucky to escape Newbiggin with diesel in your tank and wheels on your car! Round here we call it Fraggle Rock

[winther1]

I will be up working for another couple of hours - thinking of going out around 2am. If it's still mad queue or no petrol in East London I won't bother until it's over

[Scoobyd]

Decided to head out for a little shifty before bed to see the lie of the land… as I approached my local Shell I spotted the tanker had just pulled into it! Was only one other car there ahead of me. Now that's what I call timing! Especially given that as I pulled out of there (smug faced with my full tank which I needed as light was on and 70 mile round trip to do later) there must have been a good 40+ cars queuing down the road. Think word had got round to all the taxi drivers…! And that was at 1am. Mental situation. Expect it all to settle down soon though.

[Wills2]

This is utter madness

[AndyCKent]

Went to do a food shop last night at 8pm and passed six garages which had no fuel at all.

This morning there were queues at every garage I went past, the one on the motorway services was snaking down the hard shoulder about 1/4 of a mile and this was 05:30.

There is a fuel shortage whatever way you dress it up. Its a combination of people buying more than they normally would (the just in case lot) and a reduction in drivers able to delivery the fuel to garages. The net result is a fuel shortage for the end consumer which is evident when you see six garages have zero fuel.

We have two cars, both of which have between 1/4 and 1/2 tank but considering so many stations are out of fuel and the rest seem to have huge queues, we are going to have to just go out over the next couple of days and join the rest of the people waiting to fill up. Normally we both run full tanks which has helped up till now.

[Wills2]

Originally Posted by AndyCKent

There is a fuel shortage whatever way you dress it up. Its a combination of people buying more than they normally would (the just in case lot) and a reduction in drivers able to delivery the fuel to garages. The net result is a fuel shortage for the end consumer which is evident when you see six garages have zero fuel.

No there isn't it's being created by the great British public, no supply chain can cope with a 500% uplift in demand.

[RobUK]

You'd think this is a peculiarly British phenomenon or the result of better communication in modern times (TV, social media, mobile phones etc.) but it seems not. Panic buying or over-purchasing happens across the globe and has done for decades (interesting research article in see link below). Apparently it's just human nature - take anything that's normally in pretty much unconstrained supply, hint at shortage, even a potential one, and most people turn into headless chickens, they can't help themselves. Your only options are to join in or sit back and watch the shitshow and I'm favouring the latter at the moment.

Another thing, I generally fill up when my remaining range gets down to about 100 miles so I'll be standing at the pump putting in a good 40+ litres or so. Lost count of the number of times I've been standing there and have seen someone pull up, squirt about a tenner's worth of gas in and then head off to pay while I'm still standing there whistling. It feels like this constant brimming of the tank is normal for some, it's just spreading.

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0246339