Bad tempered people and petrol queues.

Couldn't agree more, why does everything get blamed on Brexit. It is sadly a far wider issue, will the losers of that vote ever get over it and move on? It's a fixation for some, but we have to move to a new reality.

4allweknow

Filling up containers with fuel is strictly controlled ie one 1 gallon or less metal container only is allowed to be transported in a car. Those using plastic or more than one should be reportedly to the police.

is that true? I fill up a plastic petrol can like this to put in my mower. Even driving from the petrol station to home (under normal times) the container swells, so I'm not sure how evian bottles are going to fare.

Daisend1

*Sarnia*.
Makes you wonder how this same lot would have coped with six years of war.?

the same as those who did. Some with fortitude and kindness and consideration, some looking out for themselves and using the black market.

I think this is a storm cooked up by the media, day after day. If shortages weren’t mentioned, no-one would panic, and would go about their day to day business. They might encounter queues, rationing or temporary closures, but it would not escalate into a national emergency.
The aggression arises from fear that people may not be able to drive where they have to go then it’s a matter of who dares wins

Sarnia.
Makes you wonder how this same lot would have coped with six years of war.?

I didn't hurl any abuse at anybody but must say I felt pretty aggressive as I was stuck in traffic for more than an hour, held up by a petrol queue, on my way to a bank to arrange a payment for a house purchase. This should have been a 10 minute trip.
I only just got there in time and could cheerfully have strangled anybody who was putting in under £5 of petrol which I understand is pretty common as people fill up their tanks after short journeys.
If people could avoid such ridiculous purchases perhaps the queues would be shorter?
We're avoiding driving at the moment and don't intend to use any more petrol than we absolutely need to.
I agree with the idea that essential workers should be given priority but have no idea how this could be done, unless they have a slot early in the day as some supermarkets did for NHS workers and pensioners.
Another suggestion: If your tank won't take as much as £30 of petrol you still have to make a minimum peyment of £30.

Well-researched, Milliedog! ??

After the last toilet paper shortage I signed on with a subscription company so now all delivered every quarter, plastic free packaging, bamboo paper and no lugging it home!

Apologies for the long post, but sometimes I get cross with our media and as I have to do a lot of slumping on the sofa (long covid) I've actually had time to do a little research on a few things!

The media should be held to account for causing unnecessary panic buying.

@GagaJo
Actually this has nothing to do with Brexit. I did some research (No. Not the Daily Mail). There are 54,000 HGV licences held up at the DVLA. Also, I went on a German transport website. Lorry driver shortages in Germany. Lorry driver shortages in Poland. Our media is not reporting this....Lorry drivers in Britain and the continent are retiring (age and other less stressful jobs, wages etc) but trainee lorry drivers can't get the training they need because of Covid. And I also heard ( reliable source but haven't had time to verify this yet) that lorries / HGV vehicles arrive at the warehouses to collect goods but because of Covid (isolation knock on effect as well as actual cases) there aren't enough warehouse staff to load the lorries and HGV vehicles so the lorries and HGV are held in long queues. It's easy to automatically blame Brexit, but it's more complicated than that. But don't expect to see this in our media. Much of the media is headquartered in London - and guess what? London was heavily anti Brexit!

jaylucy

I believe the woman filling up several plastic containers was actually the manager of a care agency, getting emergency supplies for her staff so that they could continue providing home care for their clients.
Jumping to conclusions much ?

Were these plastic containers actually designed for transporting petrol? I doubt they were.

She had no right to endanger herself and others by transporting petrol

Not only that, it's illegal if not carried correctly

They must be “reasonably robust and not liable to break under the normal conditions of use”, designed to stop the escape of vapour, not liable to degrade due to contact with petrol, and clearly labelled with the words “petrol” and “highly flammable”.

Filling up containers with fuel is strictly controlled ie one 1 gallon or less metal container only is allowed to be transported in a car. Those using plastic or more than one should be reportedly to the police.

GillT57

How do we define panic buying though? It is remarkable how every person interviewed in a petrol queue accuses others of panic buying, how do they know? Maybe the others in the queue have just as valid a reason for filling up as they do. Would anyone assume that a retired person was panic buying because they are not having to get to work? Maybe that retired person is looking after an elderly parent, doing childcare for a working adult child who is a key worker?

Well this is the point.
Should any one, nurse or otherwise, feel entitled enough to insist on moving from 2nd to 1st in the queue?
Seems as if people no longer think in terms of us. More just me

Keep Calm and use a Carrier Bag seems to be the order of the day.

It also said on the news that the lady filling up cans was getting fuel for her carers who visit and help the elderly and disabled. I think we should be careful how we judge. It’s so easy to whip up resentment that is not justified.

Well lucky you! Every petrol station I tried had no petrol yesterday. Luckily I use very little and can be patient, though it would make life more difficult as I'm not that mobile.
The irony is that you have to use petrol to search for petrol!

Now be honest….was your tank empty or were you just topping up to be sure you wouldn’t run out??? No judgement just asking….

It all boils down to ‘survival of the fittest’. It’s a primitive instinct. Darwin knew what he was talking about.
runnerbean - I agree. Walk if you can! It will do you good!
As far as Christmas is concerned, the last one was the most chilled, stress-free one we’ve had for years! Cheaper too…

A friend who works at a fuel station says there have been shortages of drivers for many months and years. These have been managed to date; the turning point has been Bp having a supply issue at a small handful of outlets and leaking it to the media who have hyped it up way beyond the scope of the problem at that time. The inevitable result - a rush on fuel courtesy of a panicked public.
The media has a great deal to answer for

i need to get to hospital appointemt on Friday and do not have enough fuel to get there and back its 30 miles each way tried to get fuel friday and was in long queue and garage closed so did shoppingandwent home tried again yesterday local tesco fuel closed,next door is a shell one but ques wee round the roundabout and down slip road was i stupid enough to queue i got through the queue and went home ill try thursday if cannot get will have to cancel appointent

I saw another item about an Asian lady employee of a garage, she was knocked to the ground by a customer and was racially abused. All care and decency seems to be evaporating.

In some garages they are only allowing people £30 worth at a time. Idint need any yet but I will next Wednesday

How do we define panic buying though? It is remarkable how every person interviewed in a petrol queue accuses others of panic buying, how do they know? Maybe the others in the queue have just as valid a reason for filling up as they do. Would anyone assume that a retired person was panic buying because they are not having to get to work? Maybe that retired person is looking after an elderly parent, doing childcare for a working adult child who is a key worker?

Listening to an HGV driver on the radio this morning, it’s illegal to carry petrol in containers inside your car. There will be fumes emitting from the container and these could explode, especially if you’re a smoker ! The woman emptying water bottles to fill with petrol would have contaminated the petrol with water droplets too. Not sure how the engine would react.

We were lucky to fill up at our local garage who was only serving locals.
That said I’m limiting how much I use my car until the panic is over.
Still I’m used to staying at home.