Panic Petrol Buying

We are in a time where everyone is facing cuts. What I will say is, that I am sure these guys have a legitimate reason to strike, there is no need to panic buy as they will need to give us 7 days notice before they do.
 
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big soft moose said:
Now i dont only blame the tanker drivers as the government's handling of the situation has been 'king awful, and the fuel companies shouldnt have let it get to ths stage either - but they all need to grow up and think about the consequences of their actions rather than acting like small boys in a the school yard
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yeah, its kind of interesting the government shouted about it before any strike has been decided. Anyone would think they wanted to cause a panic and turn people against the drivers
 
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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They are! I buy stamps for work and couldn't get through to the RM supplies department for two days! When I finally got through the woman said they were totally swamped!



boyfalldown said:
yeah, its kind of interesting the government shouted about it before any strike has been decided. Anyone would think they wanted to cause a panic and turn people against the drivers
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lol!
On one hand the MP's are suggesting we fill up cans to store at home (isn't it illegal to store more than a few litres at your house?) and the fire services are advising against doing this!
MP's can't loose though. "Don't panic buy, but maybe top up 'just in case'". Makes them look concerned and helps build bad feeling against the tanker drivers. Whatever your feelings about the tanker drivers, the government will come out of this smelling of roses and rubbing their hands together with glee.


Personally, I think striking is fundamentally wrong. Let's think about it..... I want more pay or better working conditions, so I'll stop working. In my book, if you want to improve your lot, you work harder not less. If you don't like the job you are doing, you find another one. If everyone lived by this principal, the job market would be self regulating. The right salary and conditions would have to be offered by an employer to keep the best workers. You are not forced to work for one employer. If you are good at what you do, you can get a job elsewhere.

And let's not forget, striking is actually blackmail. Just with a less unsavoury name.
 
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boyfalldown said:
yeah, its kind of interesting the government shouted about it before any strike has been decided. Anyone would think they wanted to cause a panic and turn people against the drivers
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according to the ever 'reliable' press it was a concious decision that there is far more storage in car tanks accross the country than on forecourts , therefore if everyone filled up it would scupper a short strike (they are betting that the drivers can't afford a long one)

if thats true it was also a stupid decision (coming from the condems why are we suprised) because with at least 7 days before a strike , and likely more , chances are good that people will have burned through their panic bought petrol and will have to panic buy all over again if/when an actual strike is annouced
 
boyfalldown said:
yeah, its kind of interesting the government shouted about it before any strike has been decided. Anyone would think they wanted to cause a panic and turn people against the drivers
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That's exactly what they are trying to do.. and succeeding if this thread is anything to go by.

Consider what it would be like if the general public supported the drivers and then add what the public feels regarding fuel prices? The whole thing would quickly escalate into a massive protest. I doubt the Government want to deal with that and will do whatever it can to prevent it.

'Divide and conquer'
 
v8moneypit said:
(isn't it illegal to store more than a few litres at your house?) .
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maximum of 20L in metal cans or 10 L in plastic 5L cans i think - and you also need to store it seperately to your living space - Neil G posted the full law on page 3 or 4
 
Splog said:
That's exactly what they are trying to do.. and succeeding if this thread is anything to go by.

Consider what it would be like if the general public supported the drivers and then add what the public feels regarding fuel prices? The whole thing would quickly escalate into a massive protest. I doubt the Government want to deal with that and will do whatever it can to prevent it.

'Divide and conquer'
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yeah but this protest isnt about fuel prices so thats pretty much irrelevant

and how much sympathy will the average joe ever have for someone who impacts on his or her lifestyle - so the government doesnt need to turn people against the drivers unite are doing a fine job of that by threatening strike action for the third time in as many years when joe public is already under financial presure without having it made worse.
 
gman said:
I don't agree that firefighters should strike over pay. If pay is poor then people simply won't go for that job so they'll end up having to raise the salaries to attract employment. The downside being it doesn't have such an immediate impact.

However, firefighters striking because they aren't provided proper safety equipment to do their job or because they are being held back from saving lives due to ridiculous H&S legislation is a different story.
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Just as well its not over pay then (y)
 
Lets hope the firefighters don't go on strike before the fuel ho ha is over - what with all those jerry cans of petrol kicking about :eek:
 
just watched the news. When did our nation get populated by morons?
 
inaneredstripe said:
And so far its only a threat of strike action. Stations running out of fuel because everyones filling their tanks in panic. Mental.
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You dont know how true that is, we use local stations to fill our trucks...they have all run out so lets hope we dont get busy:thinking:
 
big soft moose said:
so why does the head of Unite think otherwise ? - its a bit worrying that the guy who's leading on the negotiations doesnt have a good feeling for what his members earn.

also what would you suggest a more realistic average wage is ? (for tanker drivers i mean , the average wage for general HGV is distinctly lower)
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The bloke fron Unite has one motive... To keep himself in a job.

He doesnt live in the real world.

I'd say an average wage for a class 1 ADR driver is £25k.
Bear in mind, they also have to pay out of this for thier digital taco card, and every 5 years, redo thier ADR and CPC training, which is about £300-£400 a time. Not all empolyers pay for this, so its up to you.
 
I suspect it's the judicious use of the word 'up to' that has caused the problem. Only takes a minority on 45k and everyone thinks that is the normal wage when it is reported as 'drivers can earn up to 45k' as it is translated in people's minds as 'most drivers earn £45k'.

Mid 20s is national average wage. It's neither good nor bad.
 
srichards said:
I suspect it's the judicious use of the word 'up to' that has caused the problem. Only takes a minority on 45k and everyone thinks that is the normal wage when it is reported as 'drivers can earn up to 45k' as it is translated in people's minds as 'most drivers earn £45k'.

Mid 20s is national average wage. It's neither good nor bad.
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I used to know a tanker driver for one of the big oil companies and back then (mid-90s) he was on £30k, so some must be on at least £45k by now...
 
matty said:
just watched the news. When did our nation get populated by morons?
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How was the coma ward, they treat you well? :LOL:

Back on topic, why, in the worlds richest industry ( is it?), are there all these cuts and short term contracts, long hours etc?
My tuppence worth is, if you don't like the job, leave. If you dont have the skill set to move, train. But if you like the job, but disagree with the reduction in T&Cs, strike
Good luck to the truckers, fight da man. If my van has no diesel, it's playtime with little miss Nikon :D
 
Someones take on this from our local paper.

Fantastic idea by the government. Create panic buying of a product on which you get a massive amount of tax at the point of sale, just before the end of the financial year, so as all the extra tax revenue falls into this year and makes things look better than they really are. The public always fall for it.
 
BruceMo said:
. If my van has no diesel, it's playtime with little miss Nikon :D
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until your employer cant afford to keep you on if you arent working - at which point its goodbye miss nikon, hello cash converters and dole queue
 
I haven't panic bought as I have a small amount of fuel in both my cars.My daughter has a very small amount in her car which she thinks will last her the weekend. Trouble is because all the numpties have panic bought, all the petrol stations in my area are now dry. What a shambles.
 
big soft moose said:
until your employer cant afford to keep you on if you arent working - at which point its goodbye miss nikon, hello cash converters and dole queue
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Wow, did you google me? Spot on, in except every way possible :LOL:

I dont have a boss, and even if I did, most of my work is so local I could walk to work in 1 to 10 minutes, and if I can't get out my area, no one could come to mine, so in my head, I'd be even busier, hello big daddy Nikon :LOL:
Thats if theres any diesel for delivering materials mind :cautious:
 
same applies though - even if you a self employed a prolonged fuel strike will be a catastrophe for pretty much any business , if your clients can't work then they can't pay you and so forth

and in fact self employed will feel the pinch a damn sight sooner than those in salaried jobs.

of course ba 4 dy strike won't have that effect, but remember the miners 362 days of industrial action - Think you can cope with no fuel for the best part of a year ?

no me neither - still think the strikes a good thing ?
 
Why are these forums so obsessed with the Daily Mail?
 
I dunno i read the independent and news 24
 
I don't bother with papers and just used the Google news feed so you can go through a few from various sources very quickly. Sometimes it's the most obscure sources that have the best info! lol
 
Right then, I've filled the bath with unleaded, now is it safe to light the cooker :thinking:
 
Neil B said:
Right then, I've filled the bath with unleaded, now is it safe to light the cooker :thinking:
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perfectly , but do it now before the fire service go on strike
 
big soft moose said:
same applies though - even if you a self employed a prolonged fuel strike will be a catastrophe for pretty much any business , if your clients can't work then they can't pay you and so forth

and in fact self employed will feel the pinch a damn sight sooner than those in salaried jobs.

of course ba 4 dy strike won't have that effect, but remember the miners 362 days of industrial action - Think you can cope with no fuel for the best part of a year ?

no me neither - still think the strikes a good thing ?
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Wow, all that in 6 minutes, you don't like an argument much, do ya :LOL:
Thats pretty much my situation, and yes I support any worker whos working conditions and privelages are being eroded, especially in an industry as rich as theirs
There was a bit of lightheartedness in my post, which you obviously missed, but I can assure you, IF there was a sustained fuel shortage, big companies would die long before I did

, but none of us want that, apart from the missus, as if I was off work for a year, she MIGHT get her extension finished :LOL:
 
Ha - the people saying that the tanker drivers are replaceable forget that although we have 2million+ unemployed, that's not to say we have 2million+ willing and employable people.....

As for the fuel, I've got about 1,000 miles to do next week. If I get some diesel this weekend then so be it. I'm not sitting like I did 12 years ago in queue after queue.

The missus works in a prison so is entitled to some fuel to enable here to get to work, although I'm not sure how much. I won't be abusing that privilege.

matty said:
government will be laughing all the way to the bank with panic buying going on. money in the petrol station is money in the treasury....
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Heard on the news that in one day of 'panic buying' the government made £35-million in fuel duty.

antihero said:
For sale: one litre of petrol. Will accept two first class stamps or a Greggs pasty.
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Is that a warm pasty or one below ambient temperature? ;)
 
specialman said:
Ha - the people saying that the tanker drivers are replaceable forget that although we have 2million+ unemployed, that's not to say we have 2million+ willing and employable people.....
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hopefully out of 2 million we can find 2 thousand who arent complete ****witts .. :LOL:
 
Jimmy_Lemon said:
Almost 2 million people buy the Daily Mail - that says it all really.
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Some people that consider themselves intelligent and well informed read the Guardian, which says almost as much ;)

Both papers blatantly editorialize what should be reporting the news, the difference between them is they do it for very different target readership demographics.
 
specialman said:
Is that a warm pasty or one below ambient temperature? ;)
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that depends on whether his bath full of unleaded is on fire or not

also random question of the night , assuming you were stupid enough to fill your bath with unleaded , and assuming you avoided it going kaboom , how long would it take to evaporate ?





.... I cab't believe I just asked that :coat:
 
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