Panic Petrol Buying

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Just heard all over facebook that people in my town are panic buying petrol & Its getting manic out there. Is this happening everywhere else?
 
Just been in my local Tesco FS and it was empty! (near Bury, Lancs)
 
I'm really not looking forward to having to stand to attention soon when filling up!
 
It's all over the daily express this morning - drivbers going on strike as £45K a year isn't enough for driving a lorry.
 
gramps said:
I'm really not looking forward to having to stand to attention soon when filling up!
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Army per chance?? :D

Me too! nothing been sent to us yet, but i expect there will sooner or later! lol
 
Lynton said:
It's all over the daily express this morning - drivbers going on strike as £45K a year isn't enough for driving a lorry.
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If i recall the drivers are not upset with pay, the issue is with working conditions.

They are having to meet tighter and tight deadlines to get to forecourts and if/ when they are late they get penalised personally (££ fine). Drivers are also being forced to complete return journeys in their own time (not paid overtime) as the schedules they are given are so tight they find it difficult to get back to the depot. Can't really go home and pop a tanker on your driveway!

Personally i agree with them in principal. Driving itself is a potentially dangerous job, add to that tight deadlines and tonnes of highly flammable cargo, i would certainly be kicking up a fuss.

Now the general public should also pluck up the balls to protest about the outragous fuel duties we are paying. But thats another thread.......
 
antihero said:
Waiting to see if any public sector workers start moaning if pumps run dry :/
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cheap shot from the cheap seats,

.. don't expect much better on here though :(
 
stupid thing is its the panic buying that causes the pumps to run dry , not the actual strike which hasnt even started yet - this happened in 2010 , and 2011 and both times they reached an interim deal and called the strike off

if people stopped panicking, and stopped posting threads like this and all the moreso on facebook then the fuel would last a lot longer and a reduced service provided by forces personel would be sufficient until the strike is resolved

(on the strike itself i have no sympathy whatsoever with people who earn 45k per year moaning about their T&Cs , if you don't like it quit - see how you like being on the dole or in a minimum wage job instead - we've got chronic unemployment at present so it shouldnt take long to find some likely candidates to replace them. )
 
MG TF 135 said:
Now the general public should also pluck up the balls to protest about the outragous fuel duties we are paying. But thats another thread.......
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You go, if im not there in ten minutes start without me ;)

Dont think it so much the apathy as the changes the govt made after the last protests to make an effective protest unlikely, such as imprisonment if you protest/blockade the refinery entrances etc.
 
Panic buying of nurses out-fits in Ann Summers too, I got the last one. (it is a tad short but it is wipe clean!)

I will now be able to fill up no problems when they limit the fuel to health workers!
 
tiler65 said:
Panic buying of nurses out-fits in Ann Summers too, I got the last one. (it is a tad short but it is wipe clean!)

I will now be able to fill up no problems when they limit the fuel to health workers!
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No good without pictures Tom !!!!!

C
 
Another excuse for the petrol industry to sneak up petrol prices. Last time it happened local stations were sticking 10-15p a litre on the pump price.
 
big soft moose said:
stupid thing is its the panic buying that causes the pumps to run dry , not the actual strike which hasnt even started yet - this happened in 2010 , and 2011 and both times they reached an interim deal and called the strike off

if people stopped panicking, and stopped posting threads like this and all the moreso on facebook then the fuel would last a lot longer and a reduced service provided by forces personel would be sufficient until the strike is resolved

(on the strike itself i have no sympathy whatsoever with people who earn 45k per year moaning about their T&Cs , if you don't like it quit - see how you like being on the dole or in a minimum wage job instead - we've got chronic unemployment at present so it shouldnt take long to find some likely candidates to replace them. )
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But surely there's an argument that tanker drivers are right at the top of their job, they usually have many years of experience before 'making it' to tankers, so only earn that kind of money for a relatively short time. And they obey the driving regulations absolutely, and put safety before all other considerations, so if their working conditions are virtually forcing them to cut corners with their safety and ours then they may have a point.
 
Garry Edwards said:
But surely there's an argument that tanker drivers are right at the top of their job, they usually have many years of experience before 'making it' to tankers, so only earn that kind of money for a relatively short time. And they obey the driving regulations absolutely, and put safety before all other considerations, so if their working conditions are virtually forcing them to cut corners with their safety and ours then they may have a point.
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Thing is we all (in the private sector certainly) have had similar cuts - very low mileage paid on company car use, increased travel to work, increased workloads... how many actually get an hours lunchbreak these days (thinking any job paying more than £30k)??? Many people earning those salaries get to work late with no overtime or anything like that.

I do have some sympathy though if they are getting penalised through no fault of their own (traffic, problems at the garage).
 
Not noticed it here yet. Filled up extra on Sunday as I was going out today.

If the schedules are genuinely a problem then they need some proper proof of it. There are clear H & S guidelines which state employers have a duty of care not to impose driving schedules that encourage illegal or dangerous behaviour eg speeding or aggressive driving.

At £45k a year they ain't going to get much sympathy though. If they have half a brain they'll accept a small pay cut in return for loosening schedules to an agreed level with proper slack built into them.
 
antihero said:
Waiting to see if any public sector workers start moaning if pumps run dry :/
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No I don't mind, I hope they bring the country down in to it's knees, as a public sector worker, I get rights to petrol, so when all of joe public are empty I just go to the designated garage for NHS, police, Ambulsnce and fire services personnel and show my ID and fill up, and as an Ex trucker, if it wasn't for them 44t wagons nowt would get delivered, I say GO and FIGHT YA CASE..
 
Gary said:
you'd have to pay me more than £45k a year to drive around with thousands of litres of flammable liquid a few meters from my backside
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Well ya spot on, but in the 90's when it was the petrol companies and not these third party hauliers drivers used to get £60k per year.
 
Iain heslop said:
No I don't mind, I hope they bring the country down in to it's knees, as a public sector worker, I get rights to petrol, so when all of joe public are empty I just go to the designated garage for NHS, police, Ambulsnce and fire services personnel and show my ID and fill up, and as an Ex trucker, if it wasn't for them 44t wagons nowt would get delivered, I say GO and FIGHT YA CASE..
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Good grief, all public sector workers should be taken to the nearest council tip and squished by one of those big squishing squishers.
 
Iain heslop said:
No I don't mind, I hope they bring the country down in to it's knees, as a public sector worker, I get rights to petrol, so when all of joe public are empty I just go to the designated garage for NHS, police, Ambulsnce and fire services personnel and show my ID and fill up, and as an Ex trucker, if it wasn't for them 44t wagons nowt would get delivered, I say GO and FIGHT YA CASE..
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so, i'm all right Jack?

I'm not saying that people shouldn't fight for better working conditions, i'm saying it shouldn't be done in a way that disrupts and inconveniences the general public.

So you'd be equally pleased to turn up at the airport to find baggage handlers have gone on strike and ruined your holiday?
 
You will need to be realy rich to panic buy petrol, and any way if petrol runs out the savings will be massive, recon I will save at least £100 a week........so tanker drivers go on strike and make my day.
 
Iain heslop said:
No I don't mind, I hope they bring the country down in to it's knees, as a public sector worker, I get rights to petrol, so when all of joe public are empty I just go to the designated garage for NHS, police, Ambulsnce and fire services personnel and show my ID and fill up, and as an Ex trucker, if it wasn't for them 44t wagons nowt would get delivered, I say GO and FIGHT YA CASE..
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Whether you actually have a real need for petrol or not?
I remember the last time the pumps were dry, in 2000 I think - someone I knew worked at a call centre for Cellnet, her job was to lie to customers and tell them that Cellnet were interested in their concerns and would put right the errors on their bill etc, and someone decided that as Cellnet were loosely linked to BT, and as BT had once been part of the GPO, that they were essential workers and so entitled to petrol...
 
strange though, for 2 days i've seen queues into the road at Pinner Shell station. But just down the road the Esso has the same price but only one or two cars on the forecourt.

cant believe they arent in the post office panic buying stamps instead
 
Gary said:
strange though, for 2 days i've seen queues into the road at Pinner Shell station. But just down the road the Esso has the same price but only one or two cars on the forecourt.

cant believe they arent in the post office panic buying stamps instead
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shush... don't mention stamps - no one has noticed that yet!!!! ;)
 
just as a quick reality check , the armed forces have a much more hazardous job , how much does a frontline squadie on active service in 'stan get these days ? (less than half what a tanker driver gets last time i checked)

(also as a different kind of reality check unite havent yet set a date for strikes even though the ballot came back in favour, at this stage they are still calling for talks, the strike ballot being a negotiating position. They are also saying that even if they strike they will guarantee to still provide fuel to emergency services and other haulier depots so this isnt going to lead to a food shortage or anything like that (internet rumours notwithstanding) - in tescos earlier i saw some prat panic buying bread, beans and water :shake:
 
Don't even go there Pete... by 7pm, there will be mention of plods / firemen / nurses..........

In all seriousness, I have no idea of the construction of a fuel tanker, however I would imagine double skinned as a minimum of something substantial, with magic stuff between the two skins to curb and leaks and in lots of little sections as opposed to 30,000 litres of petrol in the equivalent of a giant "3L wine box"
 
yeah quite - in terms of fatalities or serious injuries per year its one of the safest occupations going (i'm only aware of the single fatality in the M5 crash in 2011)
so yes its a relatively stressful job which require a degree of training and technical knowledge but that is why is much better paid than the standard HGV driver.
 
Meh, was all quiet when I was doing my usual £30 top up earlier, I was the only car there - only other vehicle was oddly enough the delivery tanker!
 
yeah one garage near us is completely out of deisel but it was buisness as normal at tesco, hardly any cars on the forecourt

I can't get too excited personally as I only live about 30 mins walk/10 mins cycle from work , and theres stuff we can do without having to drive anywhere

I'll be more p'd off if all the hysteria starts costing us bookings on our campsite / bunkhouse
 
big soft moose said:
just as a quick reality check , the armed forces have a much more hazardous job , how much does a frontline squadie on active service in 'stan get these days ? (less than half what a tanker driver gets last time i checked)
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Pretty sure the T&Cs when you join the forces contain something along the lines of "you may be shot at" but nothing about "you'll be expected to drive tons of volatile fuel around with a couple of hours training", something the contractors would love to see actual tankers drivers do.

Quote from the following article - "All they want are sensible, responsible minimum standards on terms and conditions, and health and safety."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/mar/27/tanker-driver-strike-responsible-standards for anyone who cares to find out what the proposed strike is about...
 
Steep said:
Pretty sure the T&Cs when you join the forces contain something along the lines of "you may be shot at" but nothing about "you'll be expected to drive tons of volatile fuel around with a couple of hours training", something the contractors would love to see actual tankers drivers do.

Quote from the following article - "All they want are sensible, responsible minimum standards on terms and conditions, and health and safety."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/mar/27/tanker-driver-strike-responsible-standards for anyone who cares to find out what the proposed strike is about...
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yeah but just like the squadies knew what they wewre getting in to , so did the tanker drivers - and you can't get away from the fact that driving a tanker in the uk is considerably safer than active service in a warzone - yet the tanker drivers get paid twice as much, so to claim that they have a case because their job is dangerous is patently *******s

(incidentally if the strike goes ahead 300 squadies will shortly be driving tankers, probably with a couple of hours training and for considreably less wedge)
 
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