Bad tempered people and petrol queues.

Apparently HGV drivers over a certain age have to get relicensed and they can't just do it online but have to send all their forms and paperwork in to the DVLC. There was a fully qualified, experienced HGV driver on the radio this morning saying that he sent his paperwork in July and has not had his license returned. From tomorrow he cannot legally drive an HGV.

I called at our local Tesco this morning ( 8am), on the way to an appointment. At first I thought it was closed, as there were no cars there, not one! I fully expected to see cones across the entrance to the pumps, but no, I drove straight to a pump.

I did look around to check for" closed " signs, but it seemed all ok, so I filled up. As I drove out, one other car arrived.

The Shell garage near us was closed over the weekend, as it was dry, but is open again now and it seems to be business as usual, no queues.

So it appears depend on which part of the country you are in. We are in West Yorkshire.

I do feel sorry for those who depend on their cars for work, or for caring for others. I appreciate the fact that because I'm retired, I don't "have" to do many journeys. However if I was still caring for my Mum ( she sadly died in June), I would have needed my car every day to get to her.

Let's hope the situation is soon resolved. Take care everyone.

There has always been a shortage of drivers even pre Brexit. Poland actually has a bigger shortage then UK! There is not a shortage of ADR drivers there is however a shortage of common sense. The man who let slip what was said in a private meeting kicked off this melee I hope did not go so deliberately. There was no problem getting fuel last week only when headlines screamed of a fuel shortage then the idiots came out. One of my colleagues spoke to the cashier at a petrol station snd she said the problem is people are coming in daily and tipping up £25/20 instead they would have filled up then let the tank run low before coming in again. If the 20,000 drivers that left the UK hardly any would have had ADR licenses

usuallyright

Has no one noticed that the general way of life now is the word SELF.
One usually puts oneself first before others.
Witness the use of Me when quite a lot of people speak, for instance, you often hear people say such things as, say for example, "me and my mum went to town yesterday" which is not only putting self first, but, is not good English language. If that statement is split into separate entities, it would be as though saying "my mother went to town yesterday" and "me went with her"' Is this good English Language, and how has it been allowed to happen?

If you are talking about me I didn't panic buy petrol as we were told it would be ok by today, now I hardly have any left and nowhere has any.

Fair enough Alegrias. I suppose that ties in with pay rates then too. 5th reason on chart

Clearly it’s not correct to say that nowhere has fuel! I filled up our little car yesterday at Sainsbury’s, all very well organised with everyone queuing patiently.
My husband filled up his larger car today on his way to work at the same place and again managed ok after a fifteen minute queue.

I do feel for people in parts of the country which have very limited outlets open but things do seem to be improving.

I know English is a living language but it sadddens me the number of times people say "sat" instead of sitting. .... just saying!

We were very lucky this afternoon, in E Kent. We went to Tesco to fill up and we’re the last car allowed in. There had been no queue. But earlier in our journey, we saw queues of up to 1 mile on the opposite side of the dual carriageway.

It’s a sad world

Violet Sky. Well done for saving the girl. When I attended life saving classes, they stressed the importance of not helping strangers unless throwing them a towel and hauling them in. A family member should relax and listen to your instructions. Unless it was a toddler, I am afraid I wouldn’t risk life saving swimming but would do all possible to call professional assistance.

I didn’t like (dare?) to comment, but listening to friends who are couples and retired and have two cars, it occurred to me that when they said how they had “topped up”,or filled up “his” car, usually the larger and with a bigger tank, that was two cars worth, whereas those of us on our own have to do all our driving - whether to shops or travel - in one car.

AIBU to believe that two people do not necessarily cover twice as many miles as one?

Catterygirl only by acting as a submerged life ring for her long enough for a lifeguard to pull her off me and get her to the side...

So sort of? Lol

This is a Giles cartoon from 1953. Hope it makes you smile! Nothing really changes! ?

?

NannaLyn Love the cartoon!

Brilliant NannaLyn

It's time for protests against the media in this country they are causing untold damage with their constant scaremongering

@LindaPat. I agree with you - it does seem to be worse in some areas than others. I had a similar experience to you -we’re in the North West. I was almost driving on fumes and tried three local petrol stations over the weekend. Two were dry and the queue at our Tesco station was all the way back to the main road, and wrapped around a roundabout quarter of a mile away !! I gave up and came home. I tried our Morrisons station on Monday morning and it was business as usual - no queues and all the pumps working. The checkout operator said that the police had intervened over the weekend as drivers were blocking the narrow approach road and there had been a fight between two drivers on the forecourt.

The fuel supply chain seems to be better for the supermarkets - our local petrol stations are BP and Shell, and they’re still closed.

montymops

I rather blame the managers of road haulage industry for not making good enough plans for the expected shortfall in HGV drivers after Brexit. Were they asleep? There has been plenty of time to train and employ new drivers. The government doesn’t run everything- nor should it!

Agree with you that the government, of any stripe can’t be blamed for everything. Greedy people dim haulage managers but let’s not forget the DVLA who have been “working from home” these last eighteen months and not processing the thousands of applications for HGV licences. I heard a manager on the radio talking about the 600 phone calls he’d made to them over the last several months trying to get prospective new drivers licences issued as well as existing drivers licences renewed.
And for all you people blaming Brexit, does that answer the question of why there are HGV driver shortages all over Europe?

And for all you people blaming Brexit, does that answer the question of why there are HGV driver shortages all over Europe?

In case you can't see the small print - it says they are not fighting on the forecourts in France.

Who shall we blame then?

As for dim haulage managers - how insulting and ignorant.

Pulled up at a petrol station yesterday, 5 cars in front, filled car in 5 minutes. Before I get slated I am a key worker so I could go and do my job with any problem.

I went to Tesco this morning, no queues, all pumps in were working, didn't fill up because I don't need it. I'm not saying that to deny the issue or be holier than thou, just an observation.

What kind of world are we living in when Newatthis feels it necessary to defend herself for filling up her car with fuel?

Well that was the point of the op Alegrias1
Where is the aggression coming from?

They are still opening and closing and queuing here and arguing about it on facebook. I wanted to wait until it all died down before I filled up but I think I am going to have to go and queue to fill my daughter's car up after all and join in with the madness as her care staff need it. It;s a bloody nightmare isn't it?

In my neck of the woods, it appears to be a 5-hour wait if there is a petrol station open. One or two punters are ordering takeaways! The vast majority of petrol stations around here are closed-thank God I no longer work.