We have all seen the queues at petrol stations, and all of the ones that have ran dry of fuel. The government have been quick to blame this on the shortage of drivers, lumping it in with the shortages in the rest of the industry.
I worked as a fuel tanker driver for a few years until last June, and I have had several friends and family asking me if I would go back to it.
The truth is, I would consider it if the right job was there, however around my area in the North West, there is currently only one full-time position available, working for Hoyer out of Bramhall terminal near Stockport.
Surely a driver shortage should mean loads of vacancies? But even when speaking to friends who are still in the job they say there are no empty vehicles, certainly no more than 12 months ago.
None of this really comes as a surprise though, as fuel tanker drivers have never really had any incentive to leave the industry. They have always been relatively well paid and worked fewer hours when compared to drivers in most other sectors. And, in my part of the country at least, it was extremely rare to find drivers who were non-British, so it’s not even like Brexit or people going home because of Covid will have had any substantial effect.
Is it the same across the country, or could it actually be true in some areas that there is a driver shortage?
Terry Cooksey:
We have all seen the queues at petrol stations, and all of the ones that have ran dry of fuel. The government have been quick to blame this on the shortage of drivers, lumping it in with the shortages in the rest of the industry.
I worked as a fuel tanker driver for a few years until last June, and I have had several friends and family asking me if I would go back to it.
The truth is, I would consider it if the right job was there, however around my area in the North West, there is currently only one full-time position available, working for Hoyer out of Bramhall terminal near Stockport.
Surely a driver shortage should mean loads of vacancies? But even when speaking to friends who are still in the job they say there are no empty vehicles, certainly no more than 12 months ago.
None of this really comes as a surprise though, as fuel tanker drivers have never really had any incentive to leave the industry. They have always been relatively well paid and worked fewer hours when compared to drivers in most other sectors. And, in my part of the country at least, it was extremely rare to find drivers who were non-British, so it’s not even like Brexit or people going home because of Covid will have had any substantial effect.
Is it the same across the country, or could it actually be true in some areas that there is a driver shortage?
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Read an article the other day,there`s a waiting list for jobs on tankers,and today a local garage has said there is enough fuel to go around . The problem is the scheduled deliveries are arriving as per schedule but with the panic buying they are running out before they arrive. They had to stop one guy filling up his car and then starting to fill 4-5 jerry cans,and he got abusive when they stopped him.
Doesn’t help when seeing people filling there car. Then cans bottles etc
I have petrol lawnmower strimmer. Have to show my petrol can before they authorise pump and am limited to 2 cans… funny how that rule seems to of gone now.
Should have an attendant security at busy ones .
No filling container’s and checking there fuel. Levels.
If over half a tank turn them away
edd1974:
Should have an attendant security at busy ones .
No filling container’s and checking there fuel. Levels.
If over half a tank turn them away
here here
I had to deliver to a forecourt last night this silly person was so desperate to get infront of me in the queue (she was turning left i was turning right) she came zooming along the road and turned onto the forecourt at the last second nearly smashing into the back of the car in the queue infront of her. She then promptly proceded to put 12.53 into her tank. I know that because i was stood in the queue at the kiosk behind her waiting to get some bakki.
Astounding, really? After what happened last year and the empty shelves and overflowing shopping carts/boots people buyng spare fridges to stock up after gov’t and supermarket bosses said don’t panic buy? Who didn’t see this coming I fully expect to read a report one of these days about some idiot(s) going boom because they stored their petrol in plastic bottles at home near the stove
Interesting discussion on the 08hr15 slot on Today programme.
Representative of fuel industry and a member (Mike Planet?) of Cabinet Office from 2000 crisis.
No rep from the Gov because of? The Labour Party conference??
Franglais:
Interesting discussion on the 08hr15 slot on Today programme.
Representative of fuel industry and a member (Mike Planet?) of Cabinet Office from 2000 crisis.
No rep from the Gov because of? The Labour Party conference??
What crisis? This situation has come about due to a media fuelled panic, two weeks ago there was no fuel shortage yet by last Friday there were no drivers, did they all hand their notice in in a 7 day period? Last Friday somewhere in the region of 80 stations had a supply problem in the south east there are approx 8,000 fuel stations in the UK so a drop in the ocean please explain how this the governments fault did they sack all the tanker drivers last week? Did they tell the BBC to report in a irresponsible manner? Did they tell the population to jump into their cars aand rush to their nearest fuel station?
And as for no government rep because of the Labour Party conference would you miss that comedy gold to do an interview on R4?
Franglais:
Interesting discussion on the 08hr15 slot on Today programme.
Representative of fuel industry and a member (Mike Planet?) of Cabinet Office from 2000 crisis.
No rep from the Gov because of? The Labour Party conference??
What crisis? This situation has come about due to a media fuelled panic, two weeks ago there was no fuel shortage yet by last Friday there were no drivers, did they all hand their notice in in a 7 day period? Last Friday somewhere in the region of 80 stations had a supply problem in the south east there are approx 8,000 fuel stations in the UK so a drop in the ocean please explain how this the governments fault did they sack all the tanker drivers last week? Did they tell the BBC to report in a irresponsible manner? Did they tell the population to jump into their cars aand rush to their nearest fuel station?
And as for no government rep because of the Labour Party conference would you miss that comedy gold to do an interview on R4?
What crisis? The “2000 crisis”, like wot I wrote.
How is this the Gov’s problem?
Whether or not they initiated it, they do have a responsibility to run the country smoothly. They may may not be the cause of floods or civil unrest etc, but they ARE responsible for dealing with such. It’s in the job description. If the current incumbents only want to deal with the easy bits they ain’t doing a good job there either.
It is also part of a Government job to inform the population of what is happening. (IMHO anyway) and if you did listen to the piece you would hear why that was very relevant to the 2000 crisis.
Go and talk to the population or wait to score political points? Well, we have seen how that has been played.
Did the BBC or anyone else report irresponsibly? Was anything invented by them? Do you think censorship would be a good thing? Only what is passed by the Gov gets out there?
Franglais:
Interesting discussion on the 08hr15 slot on Today programme.
Representative of fuel industry and a member (Mike Planet?) of Cabinet Office from 2000 crisis.
No rep from the Gov because of? The Labour Party conference??
What crisis? This situation has come about due to a media fuelled panic, two weeks ago there was no fuel shortage yet by last Friday there were no drivers, did they all hand their notice in in a 7 day period? Last Friday somewhere in the region of 80 stations had a supply problem in the south east there are approx 8,000 fuel stations in the UK so a drop in the ocean please explain how this the governments fault did they sack all the tanker drivers last week? Did they tell the BBC to report in a irresponsible manner? Did they tell the population to jump into their cars aand rush to their nearest fuel station?
And as for no government rep because of the Labour Party conference would you miss that comedy gold to do an interview on R4?
What crisis? The “2000 crisis”, like wot I wrote.
How is this the Gov’s problem?
Whether or not they initiated it, they do have a responsibility to run the country smoothly. They may may not be the cause of floods or civil unrest etc, but they ARE responsible for dealing with such. It’s in the job description. If the current incumbents only want to deal with the easy bits they ain’t doing a good job there either.
It is also part of a Government job to inform the population of what is happening. (IMHO anyway) and if you did listen to the piece you would hear why that was very relevant to the 2000 crisis.
Go and talk to the population or wait to score political points? Well, we have seen how that has been played.
Did the BBC or anyone else report irresponsibly? Was anything invented by them? Do you think censorship would be a good thing? Only what is passed by the Gov gets out there?
The fuel crisis in 2000 was caused for different reasons than the current one in this one there is no shortage of fuel just a minor supply problem to a few stations which has been blown out of all proportion and lead to panic buying. There is a difference between censorship and responsible reporting. Have you seen a massive advertising campaign for tanker drivers? Hoyer in the North East has one vacancy so where is this great tanker driver shortage that the media talk of.
Franglais:
Interesting discussion on the 08hr15 slot on Today programme.
Representative of fuel industry and a member (Mike Planet?) of Cabinet Office from 2000 crisis.
No rep from the Gov because of? The Labour Party conference??
What crisis? This situation has come about due to a media fuelled panic, two weeks ago there was no fuel shortage yet by last Friday there were no drivers, did they all hand their notice in in a 7 day period? Last Friday somewhere in the region of 80 stations had a supply problem in the south east there are approx 8,000 fuel stations in the UK so a drop in the ocean please explain how this the governments fault did they sack all the tanker drivers last week? Did they tell the BBC to report in a irresponsible manner? Did they tell the population to jump into their cars aand rush to their nearest fuel station?
And as for no government rep because of the Labour Party conference would you miss that comedy gold to do an interview on R4?
What crisis? The “2000 crisis”, like wot I wrote.
How is this the Gov’s problem?
Whether or not they initiated it, they do have a responsibility to run the country smoothly. They may may not be the cause of floods or civil unrest etc, but they ARE responsible for dealing with such. It’s in the job description. If the current incumbents only want to deal with the easy bits they ain’t doing a good job there either.
It is also part of a Government job to inform the population of what is happening. (IMHO anyway) and if you did listen to the piece you would hear why that was very relevant to the 2000 crisis.
Go and talk to the population or wait to score political points? Well, we have seen how that has been played.
Did the BBC or anyone else report irresponsibly? Was anything invented by them? Do you think censorship would be a good thing? Only what is passed by the Gov gets out there?
The fuel crisis in 2000 was caused for different reasons than the current one in this one there is no shortage of fuel just a minor supply problem to a few stations which has been blown out of all proportion and lead to panic buying. There is a difference between censorship and responsible reporting. Have you seen a massive advertising campaign for tanker drivers? Hoyer in the North East has one vacancy so where is this great tanker driver shortage that the media talk of.
So you are saying that there is a current crisis?
I certainly never said said there was, but clearly did refer to the 2000 one.
.
If Jo or Joe can’t get fuel to go to work then I reckon that counts as a crisis. I agree there shouldn’t be one because there is no shortage of fuel at the refinery but if the public don’t accept that…well here we are.
.
Ok, don’t blame it on Starmer or Corbyn, blame the BBC…
Can’t possibly be anything to do with Government can it?
Franglais:
So you are saying that there is a current crisis?
I certainly never said said there was, but clearly did refer to the 2000 one.
.
If Jo or Joe can’t get fuel to go to work then I reckon that counts as a crisis. I agree there shouldn’t be one because there is no shortage of fuel at the refinery but if the public don’t accept that…well here we are.
.
Ok, don’t blame it on Starmer or Corbyn, blame the BBC…
Can’t possibly be anything to do with Government can it?
It’s the media that is saying there is a crisis not me I can see there isn’t
You keep saying blame the government so come on explain their role in causing this, there is no shortage of tanker drivers so what is the governments role in this supplies were working fine then suddenly not how is that the governments fault? There was a problem with a handful of fuel stations in the SE did the government cause the supplies to these stations to stop?
Franglais:
So you are saying that there is a current crisis?
I certainly never said said there was, but clearly did refer to the 2000 one.
.
If Jo or Joe can’t get fuel to go to work then I reckon that counts as a crisis. I agree there shouldn’t be one because there is no shortage of fuel at the refinery but if the public don’t accept that…well here we are.
.
Ok, don’t blame it on Starmer or Corbyn, blame the BBC…
Can’t possibly be anything to do with Government can it?
It’s the media that is saying there is a crisis not me I can see there isn’t
You keep saying blame the government so come on explain their role in causing this, there is no shortage of tanker drivers so what is the governments role in this supplies were working fine then suddenly not how is that the governments fault? There was a problem with a handful of fuel stations in the SE did the government cause the supplies to these stations to stop?
I repeat,
No matter the initial cause, it is a Gov job to deal with things like this.
It is as simple as that.
.
If people can’t fill their cars then there IS a problem, whether you choose to see it or not.
.
Have you not listened to thst clip yet?
Franglais:
So you are saying that there is a current crisis?
I certainly never said said there was, but clearly did refer to the 2000 one.
.
If Jo or Joe can’t get fuel to go to work then I reckon that counts as a crisis. I agree there shouldn’t be one because there is no shortage of fuel at the refinery but if the public don’t accept that…well here we are.
.
Ok, don’t blame it on Starmer or Corbyn, blame the BBC…
Can’t possibly be anything to do with Government can it?
It’s the media that is saying there is a crisis not me I can see there isn’t
You keep saying blame the government so come on explain their role in causing this, there is no shortage of tanker drivers so what is the governments role in this supplies were working fine then suddenly not how is that the governments fault? There was a problem with a handful of fuel stations in the SE did the government cause the supplies to these stations to stop?
Apart from possible Government or business engineering, this is down to people being stupid people. They see a small queue, and panic.
But as to whether the government is responsible, I think the problem is that we are now seeing a total collapse of the trustworthiness of government/politicians. After the non stop lies and u-turns, people don’t trust this government, or indeed any politician, anymore. When they say black, you know that a week later they’ll say white. So when another trough feeder comes on screen, and tells us that ‘there is no shortage’, people expect the opposite…
This government is reaping what it has sown. What is astonishing is that there is absolutely no opposition (whether Labour or otherwise), to take this shambles of a government to task, and make a case for a change. The Labour Party is busy this week infighting and finishing itself off. Arguing about whether men have a cervix, and how to disenfranchise the last voters that voted for them…
I managed to get some fuel when my car was on 8 miles of range left. I only put in what I usually fill up with £20, that’ll last me a week.
I saw others squeezing the pumps on and off to get every drip out of the pump and the grand total of their fuel was £23 something pence. So they weren’t on empty when they went to go and brim their tank.
I couldn’t do my shopping in my local Asda at 19:00 because the queue was down the road on to the main roundabout, all for fuel.
Franglais:
So you are saying that there is a current crisis?
I certainly never said said there was, but clearly did refer to the 2000 one.
.
If Jo or Joe can’t get fuel to go to work then I reckon that counts as a crisis. I agree there shouldn’t be one because there is no shortage of fuel at the refinery but if the public don’t accept that…well here we are.
.
Ok, don’t blame it on Starmer or Corbyn, blame the BBC…
Can’t possibly be anything to do with Government can it?
It’s the media that is saying there is a crisis not me I can see there isn’t
You keep saying blame the government so come on explain their role in causing this, there is no shortage of tanker drivers so what is the governments role in this supplies were working fine then suddenly not how is that the governments fault? There was a problem with a handful of fuel stations in the SE did the government cause the supplies to these stations to stop?
I repeat,
No matter the initial cause, it is a Gov job to deal with things like this.
It is as simple as that.
.
If people can’t fill their cars then there IS a problem, whether you choose to see it or not.
.
Have you not listened to thst clip yet?
What could the government have done to allevaite this in such a short space of time couple of stations with no fuel Friday mass panic by Saturday morning from the public, but all the time there is no shortage of fuel or drivers perhaps deployed the army? how would that have calmed people’s fears? Perhaps they could have deployed a copper to each queue and had them turn away everyone who had more than half a tank, this was caused by the media going into overdrive over a non event and the gullabilty of the public to believe everything the media tells them remember not so long ago how we were going to run out of bog roll and pasta.
Sat at home here with Jeremy Vine, on the wife’s choice not mine, and you can see why the public fell for the fuel shortage hysteria, if you called some of the callers stupid it would be a compliment
All panic at Beaconsfield services about 10ish wanted stop there for break
All the entry and roundabout were cloged up with cars and trucks.
Cars trying squeeze down side of trucks.
Some idiot in a Porsche tried going down the way out was forced back out by a truck coming out .
He then tried again but his foot down disappeared a white van followed.
I gave up after 15 mins.not moving parked on grass verge near traffic lights for my break.
Then all could hear was truck horns going like mad then police arrived lights flashing sirens on.
God knows what was happening
It’s stupid .
Doesn’t help I stopped at some motoway services last night for truck fuel. got some no problem
But we’re queuing out the door for cars. And had 1 bloke on his own which doesn’t help matters.
They knew people were going to panic buy so why leave 1 bloke on his own.
He said been on my own an hour cover will come in about half hour when next shift start.
Added to that it was one with a Gregg’s and ever customer wanted a coffe after waiting so long .
Imagine the profits these places are making while poor staff struggle on there own
I fully expect to read a report one of these days about some idiot(s) going boom because they stored their petrol in plastic bottles at home near the stove