Fuel Shortages ?

[219]

Has anyone else experienced fuel shortages during this bout of adverse weather ?

Last night I needed Diesel for the works van and pulled into a station - only to find they had no Diesel and only a limited supply of petrol . Tried another couple of stations on the way home to find the same thing .

This morning , took junior down to the childminders in the 500 and decided to fill up as it was down below 1/4 tank - the local Tesco had no fuel at all . The very expensive station in the village had fuel but I drove on , got petrol in Ardrossan ( I had to go there anyway ) but none of the stations I passed ( about seven ) had any Diesel .

In the end I took the 500 to work , with a couple of jerrycans in the boot , and got Diesel in Hamilton , where they seemed to have plenty .

Having spoken to my family in Bo'ness , I know they have between 3 and 4 feet of snow there , only 5 miles or so from the Grangemouth refinery from which all the Scottish petrol stations are supplied .

Having spoken to a few colleagues today , several others commented on difficulties obtaining fuel . It does seem mainly to affect Diesel users , no doubt as this is now the most widely used fuel , but many stations are running low on petrol as well .

Please just be aware , and only buy fuel if you really need it - 'panic buying' would only worsen the situation .

Don't know if it is affecting other areas ?

 

[Charles Morgan]

Once the man from the petrol retailers association is trotted out, you know it is a matter of time before everybody is sitting outside a petrol station, guaranteeing they will all run out.

 

[renault12ts]

Apparently (according to BBC) this weather, in Scotland, may last until at least the New Year!!

 

[mbenz76]

None here in Sheffield to my knowledge.

My car is well and truly stuck at home at the moment but I filled it up on Monday evening and did about 15 miles after that before I got snowed in at home, so I'm not worrying at all

A lot of this is scaremongering by the media. Most places unless up steep ungritted hills or out in the middle of the countryside will be able to get supplies of fuel and food etc. I know it's not the same as Sheffield is a big city, but everything here is fine from what I can tell - even our local Spar had a massive lorry turn up today with a delivery and it had no trouble at all getting here.

 

[markjay]

I did notice bussier-than-usual activity at petrol stations, but no real queue as such - definitely nothing like the queues during the fuel shortage of 2000.

What is the supposedly official reason for this alleged shortage - tankers not getting through due to the weather or such like?

 

[renault12ts]

I did notice bussier-than-usual activity at petrol stations, but no real queue as such - definitely nothing like the queues during the fuel shortage of 2000.

What is the supposedly official reason for this alleged shortage - tankers not getting through due to the weather or such like?

The weather? What's the problem with the weather.

 

[markjay]

The weather? What's the problem with the weather.

The protesting students are all out in force in their C63s without winter tyres clogging the roads - they are causing criminal damage and even a snowman has been reported stolen.

 

[219]

What is the supposedly official reason for this alleged shortage - tankers not getting through due to the weather or such like?

I haven't heard any 'official' reasons , or even reports .

However , as per my original post , the town of Bo'ness , where my mother and sisters live , is pretty much 'snowed in' with at least 3 ft of snow just about everywhere and , reportedly , my Ponton completely buried in snow up my mother's drive - only the tip of the rooftop aerial of my sister's Golf parked in front of it is visible sticking out of the snowdrift .

Almost everyone in the town is off work just now . Lack of fuel deliveries could be down to snow affecting the depot , or possibly the inability of staff to get to work in the first place ?

 

[mbenz76]

They claim the shortages are due to tankers not being able to get out of the refineries and to the petrol stations, so yes, it's due to the weather.

You would think that it would be compulsory for fuel and food delivery lorries to have winter tyres fitted.

I often wonder how the emergency services cope - I have seen ambulances etc. speeding around on the snow without any problems. Do they have winter tyres?

 

[Shude]

I often wonder how the emergency services cope - I have seen ambulances etc. speeding around on the snow without any problems. Do they have winter tyres?

No but I drove a van last weekend in the snow and ice and it was fine! Heavy-ish van, skinny but blocky tyres got by with no problems.

 

[mbenz76]

The police round here have broken the horses out a couple of times - they seem to have no problem getting through the snow either

 

[markjay]

The police round here have broken the horses out a couple of times - they seem to have no problem getting through the snow either

Winter hoofs, presumably?

 

[finisterre]

I dropped 10 litres of sunflower oil in my trolley as it is cheaper than diesel at the moment. Getting round to putting it into my van is lower priority so I have a few containers from previous trrips knocking around. I think it should see me through a shortage okay.

 

[Spinal]

I stopped at a station on the way home as I was forewarned by my client that there may be some shortages coming up this weekend...

So it's a full tank here

M.

 

[Apial]

Tankers can not get out of the north lincolnshire oil refineries. One filling staion in Louth ran out of disel in LOUTH and I know of another in Skegness. The B1225 is a designated tanker route and at the moment it looks like a scene from "Iced road Truckers", but worse.

 

[abecketts]

called our heating oil supplier yesterday, they admitted that I might get a delivery before Christmas but would not confirm 100% as they have 1400 deliveries to make as everyone was panicking, the the space of 3 days prices have gone from 50p a litre to 63p a litre as well. Chop more wood I say.

 

[nickcc101]

One of the problems is that 99% of the major oil companies tankers are artics and are virtually impossible to control in snow and icy conditions, having a large artic sliding sideways towards you loaded with 38,000 litres of flammable liquid is guaranteed to ruin anyones day.

 

[davidjpowell]

Two full tanks for about a week here. Have not been able to move the cars.

I am not surprised that the tankers are finding it hard to move through North Lincolnshire. It's hit pretty hard here. The main road through the village has been ploughed, but it does look distinctly dodgy still, and covered in icy slush.

This year is the first yeat that I have seen HGV's out with snow chains.

 

[kusanku]

I encountered exactly this problem two weeks ago, finding three garages in a row without fuel. However, that was before the weather turned. I am not aware of any weather-related shortages, although it only takes a bit of panic buying to cause one.

 

[grober]

I heard some junior government minister being interviewed on the radio yesterday "talking b*ll*cks" about winter tyres. Quote :- "you can't use snow tyres on bare roads as they destroy the road surface" With imprecise idiots like that running the country its little wonder a foot of snow can bring the country to its knees. In terms of tankers getting through I would wager its due to the roads being clogged with cars with unsuitable tyres going nowhere fast or simply abandoned preventing snow clearing and gritting vehicles from keeping the roads clear for sensibly shod vehicles. Time perhaps for legislation for the compulsory wearing of winter tyres for the 4 months of Nov Dec Jan Feb. Those who feel this is an unacceptable cost can leave their car in the garage for 4 months. When it comes to tyre renewal time the lure of Yintong yiddle i po racing slicks may then pale in comparison to the purchase of some Nokian WR-G2s =sorted.