Ready steady Queue

[st13phil]

What we need in order to fix the petrol station queues, is not more fuel tanker drivers to deliver more fuel, instead we just need to wait until everyone finished brimming their tanks.... I give it a few more days.

Logically, that will result in a surplus of tanker drivers as the volume through filling stations will reduce while the panic buyers work their way through their stock

 

[BTB 500]

As an aside, that's one of the big engineering arguments against BEV's: you're always carrying around a huge dead weight that you have to accelerate, brake, and support.

Same applies to non plug-in hybrids of course - you could eliminate the battery and potentially have a lighter and more efficient pure ICE vehicle. The only loss would be the ability to use regenerative braking (the benefit of which depends on the use case i.e. the amount of stop/start driving).

 

[grober]

There seem to be ongoing talk of other potential supply issues, e.g. food deliveries to supermarkets, etc. I'm guessing that the HGV drivers shortage isn't limited to fuel tanker drivers.

So presumably the idea is that bringing-in 5,000 more HGV drivers will help ease the pressure across the haulage industry. Not a bad plan, though it should have probably been done at an earlier stage.

And I think that the talk of fuel tanker driver shortage is a bit of a red herring. We are only talking about it because people panicked and they all now all trying to brim their tanks at the same time.

In other words, if someone started a rumor that we're gonna run out of pies, we'd be talking now of a nationwide shortage of bakery drivers

Once the panick is over, fuel supply to petrol stations will get back to near-normal (i.e. still suffering mild pressures here-and-there due the overall shortage of drivers).

What we need in order to fix the petrol station queues problem, is not more fuel tanker drivers to deliver more fuel, instead we just need to wait until everyone finished brimming their tanks.... I give it a few more days.

That just leaves labour shortages in the agricultural sector, food processing, hospitality,social care and the health care sector then? Thats a relief.

 

[MikeInWimbledon]

If only there was an individual energy source you could personally access in your garage /driveway [if you are lucky enough to have one] to " refuel " your car every day if you wanted without being subject to the hysteria of the vagaries of fossil fuel supply.
Filling your boot with multiple plastic cans of highly inflammable liquid gives the term "range anxiety" an entirely new meaning

Exactly ! Electric vehicles powered, at the margin, by fossil fuels such as gas and coal.

The only challenges? To move £80 billion worth of automotive taxation from fuel usage to miles actually driven.

Oh, and expending huge amount of CO2 to develop, build and sell the 35 million vehicles to use such power in the UK, and persuading the British public to reach into their own pockets to pay for them

 

[markjay]

Same applies to non plug-in hybrids of course - you could eliminate the battery and potentially have a lighter and more efficient pure ICE vehicle. The only loss would be the ability to use regenerative braking (the benefit of which depends on the use case i.e. the amount of stop/start driving).

This is true, and this also why airplanes never carry a full tank unless they need it.

For cars, based on a guess that around half the total UK fuel tank capacity is carried by cars at any given point of time (apart from these days, obviously), the issue isn't as bad (~30-40Kg per car on average?). EVs carry a 200 Kg(?) Battery at all times. But then the motor is much lighter than the weight of an ICE drivetrain (engine, transmission, prop shafts, and diff). How much heavier is the EQC compared to the GLC (with half tank)?

 

[Darrell]

That just leaves labour shortages in the agricultural sector, food processing, hospitality,social care and the health care sector then? Thats a relief.

I’d like to see some genuine figures telling us how many workers have actually left these posts in the last 12 months.

 

[MikeInWimbledon]

That just leaves labour shortages in the agricultural sector, food processing, hospitality,social care and the health care sector then? Thats a relief.

Yes, what are the EU and USA going to do about their labour shortages in their agriculture, food processing, hospitality, social care and the health care sectors, post-Covid-19 ?

Even the EU "Club Med states" around the Mediterranean have made no dent on their 20-40% Youth unemployment failures in 2021.

Greek youth unemployment still sits at 37.6% youth unemployment as at July 2021. Ridiculous. It's as if no-one cares.

.

 

[Petrol Pete]

What we must also remember when talking about people filling their tanks to the brim when they would normally just bung £20 in.

The petrol stations are also not used to filling their bunkers up to the brim every time they have a delivery. Most will use historic sale data to plan how much to order for each delivery.

Then all of a sudden their business plan falls apart when people go mad. Toilet paper a while ago ?...same thing

 

[noogieman]

How many of you fellow MB owners regret that UK left the gentleman's club of EU?
How many are happy that UK now stand on their own having full control of their own government?

Looks like post apocalyptic scenes with all cars waiting in line at the petrol stations.
People have quarrels over petrol at the pumps fighting each other!?
What's going on in UK?

Did anyone expect these problems to happen after UK left EU?

 

[markmifsud]

I normally fill to the brim once I am down to under a quarter of a tank. I will soon be on reserve and theres not a petrol station within 10 miles of me that has fuel. On friday we coiunted a queue of 55 cars waiting to enter the largest Pertol Station near here. Its lucky for me that I am still in the main working from home

 

[Darrell]

How many of you fellow MB owners regret that UK left the gentleman's club of EU?
How many are happy that UK now stand on their own having full control of their own government?

Looks like post apocalyptic scenes with all cars waiting in line at the petrol stations.
People have quarrels over petrol at the pumps fighting each other!?
What's going on in UK?

Did anyone expect these problems to happen after UK left EU?

I didn’t expect anything like this at all.

 

[Fastcar155]

How many of you fellow MB owners regret that UK left the gentleman's club of EU?
How many are happy that UK now stand on their own having full control of their own government?

Looks like post apocalyptic scenes with all cars waiting in line at the petrol stations.
People have quarrels over petrol at the pumps fighting each other!?
What's going on in UK?

Did anyone expect these problems to happen after UK left EU?

Hi , I voted to remain for one reason , you cannot unscramble an egg.

To me it looks still that the EU still have total control over the UK whatever our master's say.

We live in a democratic country so I go along withe the people's choice.

 

[grober]

I’d like to see some genuine figures telling us how many workers have actually left these posts in the last 12 months.

Maybe current advertised vacancies in these sectors might afford a clue? Its difficult to assess numbers invoved in many of these jobs because of their seasonal/gig economy nature facilitated until recently by unrestricted movement of labour.
The US is a classic case-many of their poorly paid menial jobs are in fact performed by illegal immigrants-----while many US citizens appear to hate these people for "taking away jobs from white Americans" ---at the same time they appear quite happy to enjoy the economic/price benefits of their cheap labour.
Greece is an economic basket case because a large proportion of their citizens appear to believe its possible to run a countries infrastrucure/government without paying any taxes------but we stray away from the original thread for which I apologise

 

[markjay]

I think that the Brexit argument is misplaced.

Of course things were going to be different in more ways than we could plan-ahead for.

And we always knew that closing down free movement of workers between the UK and EU is a double-edged sword.

But what of it? You could equally point-out benefits in other areas, and start another 300-page (inconclusive) Brexit thread.

 

[noogieman]

I'm sorry that UK left the club as I used to buy lots of stuff from UK.
Now I no longer buy anything from UK as I have to pay customs for everything.

 

[MikeInWimbledon]

Did anyone expect these problems to happen after UK left EU?

Expected far worse. Any idea that the French or Germans would reverse a millennium of arrogance because of the creation of the EU always sounded dubious. With Merkel gone, and Macron going next year, the EU is going to be riven with infighting as Poland and Hungary take their proper place within the Union.

Did anyone really think that Road Hauliers would give up cheap labour any more than the NHS and Social care would? No. The only difference is that now we're be importing truckers from the world, not just from the white 5% in our corner. Egyptian truckers? Why not ? Indian or Chinese: could work.

 

[markjay]

I think there may also be some confusion between foreign truckers driving their foreign trucks into the UK (as can be seen by their number plates), which will typically be from EU countries, and foreign truckers who settle in the UK (permanently or temporarily) in order to drive British trucks on British roads. For perspective, the NHS and the private health sector have been using qualified nurses from the Philippines for ages, nothing to do with the EU.

 

[poormansporsche]

The UK is a classic case-many of their poorly paid menial jobs are in fact performed by immigrants-----while many UK citizens appear to hate these people for "taking away jobs" ---at the same time they appear quite happy to enjoy sitting on their ****s

Fixed that for you

 

[Darrell]

Maybe current advertised vacancies in these sectors might afford a clue?

There are zillions of jobs on offer in the sectors mentioned. There always have been though.

I think it’s because of the high turnover of staff.

 

[markjay]

It works in some places..... in Qatar, foreign residents make-up 88.4% of the population while Qataris are only 11.6%. Not all foreigners are migrant workers, but it is estimated that over 2m out of the total population of just under 3m are migrant workers, so near the 80% mark.