To Be Or Not To Be A Fuel Shortage......

I see that today's Mail Online is still busy stirring the panic with its lead story.

 

Anyone remember the great toilet roll crisis of 2020?

This is exactly the same as that. Thanks media.

 

The most annoying thing about this is those smug bastards with electric cars.

 

Its true

 

OK, so I guess it then becomes a moot point on the definition of the terms "rational" and "sensible"?

Reason or logic dictate that we've had this underlying situation for some time - the shortage of drivers; the enormous backlog of driving tests and examiners (particularly, it seems, for HGVs); and, though I have very grave doubts about the relevance of it, Brexit. Brexit, remember, was actually realised on 31st January 2020 - that's over 20 months ago! These factors haven't - as far as I can see - suddenly come to a head in September 2021 and caused, per se, a sudden, dramatic shortage of fuel.

So what did change to suddenly cause the insanity that we're seeing now? My understanding is that it was almost certainly one single, sensationalist press article saying that pumps were going to run dry because there aren't sufficient tanker drivers to maintain stock levels, and relating this primarily to the departure from our fair shores of (choose your own figure between 1,000 and 100,000) numbers of foreign/EU workers. Hang on! Did they all leave at the same time, like about 3 weeks ago? And were they all fuel tanker drivers? Ermmmmmmm ........

So, really, is each one of them acting rationally? Or is each one of them acting rather selfishly and convincing themselves that their selfishness is a rational act? I MIGHT need fuel and it MIGHT not be available has, for the herd, become I MUST have fuel and I WILL get it now!

It seems to me there was a panic inducing moment that, once initiated, was, for many, never going to be stemmed by assurances, platitudes, promises or pleas from industry, government or the media.

 

..... and me .... smug bastard with a dual fuel!

Guess I could add to the effect and go and queue to fill the petrol tank and give myself a range of about 800 miles but, NAH, can't be @rsed. It'd go stale by the time I'd need it ......

 

As I recall it was BP saying that some of it's forecourts had run dry because of lack of tanker drivers. That was then reported by the media. and then....

 

They won't be smug for long... I've bought all the toilet roll

 

Luckily there’s not a molotov cocktail shortage…
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Wait a minute…

 

You are as close as all the others ,that have no idea either. The root of the problem is, we are not getting enough new drivers, And the reasons for that, have been said before. Fuck all to do with brexit, in principle. But the EU are doing the best they can to fuck us over. Plus our border controls, regards the virus, are not helping. A driver, coming from Italy, is going through europe, with very little hassle. Until he hits the UK. That is where his problems start, and we should be doing more to help him. Instead, we are paying brain dead idiots, in various government departments, to sit at home on full pay, and fuck around doing nothing but cause mayhem. It has amazed me for all my life, how this system has survived. About 20% of us, are productive, and actually pay into it, the rest are just piss takers milking us dry. Maybe the fuel shortage, will make some of the scrounging useless fuckers, walk their fat kids to school. They all seem to be giving us shit about saving the planet, Let's watch them waddle on by on the pavement for a while. Instead of getting in my fucking way on the roads.

 

Some good points raised there.

 

The modern management style seems to cater for that type self-feeding, job-creation scheme within the public sector (Well, my experience of it anyway… NHS) but all the “fact checking sites” seem to disagree and say there are not too many managers in the NHS. I suspect it is the same elsewhere in the public sector.

 

Too bad he did not get in his car and light up a smoke on his way home. ...J.D.

 

Had to do a 260 mile trip today in the van: home-Ayr-Glasgow-Edinburgh-home. Saw one filling station out of fuel. All others working normally. No queues anywhere.
Update: The one local filling station that was out of fuel was back to normal the following day.