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Pumps run dry at gas stations in Britain

reuters.com

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Re: Pumps run dry at gas stations in Britain

#151

Post by BuildTheRobots »

aaronmdjones wrote: post #124
teeray wrote: post #106

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You’re technically limited to storing a certain quantity of fuel on your property without a license. Whether a regulator could detect this is another question.

It's 30 litres, for reference.

Just to clarify: Petrol and Kerosene (parafin) are limited to 10L in a plastic jerry-can, 20L in a metal can and you're limited to 2 containers or 30L maximum. Diesel is exempt.

I can't remember if this applies to limits you can transport in a vehicle or if it applies to storage at a home/work location as well.

Re: Pumps run dry at gas stations in Britain

#152

Post by OJFord »

thinkingemote wrote: post #116
thrwyoilarticle wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Like the great toilet paper shortage. I'm drawn to die on this hill every time. The toilet paper shortage made sense. At the start of the first lockdown in the UK, we were told to minimise contact with others. This meant that it made sense for a daily shopper to become a weekly shopper & a weekly shopper to become a biweekly shopper. And if you're shopping less frequently but consuming at the same rate, you'll be bu…

We were also told to prepare to self isolate a family for 2 weeks. That's a bunch of toilet roll for a normal sized family needed to stock up on. When internet deliveries were restricted to just the vulnerable too. Almost all "panic buying" is calm and rational.

> When internet deliveries were restricted to just the vulnerable too.

That never happened? Perhaps new sign-ups (at the company's discretion)?

I had groceries delivered before the pandemic and continued throughout, only affect was that for a few months slots would be booked up weeks in advance of normal, so had to plan ahead more.

Re: Pumps run dry at gas stations in Britain

#153

Post by native_samples »

jack_riminton wrote: post #33
bayesian_horse wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think it was unclear as to why there is no gas. Is it because there are no drivers to drive the gas to the stations or because the general energy supply for GB currently sucks?

The official line is that there is a lack of truck drivers, which is mostly true because Brexit has prevented a lot of the foreign drivers from working

That's actually not the official line. That's the line of the Road Hauliers Association. The government line was provided to the Telegraph yesterday, and goes like this:

- There is only really a "shortage" of about 100-150 tanker drivers in the entire country.

- The petrol shortage was caused by aforementioned hauliers association deliberately telling the press that there was about to be a massive fuel shortage. That wasn't true but triggered panic buying, provoking an artificial "crisis" that was used (successfully) to put pressure on the government to issue some visas to eastern European truckies.

- There are more vacancies for HGV drivers, but that's mostly due to a lockdown-induced backlog at the driver licensing authority, combined with many people who have HGV licenses not wanting to drive due to poor pay and conditions.

- Brexit isn't the cause of this (which at any rate came into effect at the start of the year), except via a rather tortuous route ... the people at the RHA who manipulated the public through the press are all notoriously and outspokenly anti-Brexit, and they unfortunately have a history of leaking, in fact their press guy is a former BBC journalist already known to the government for prior leaking. BBC is of course notoriously anti-Brexit culturally. Therefore it is very likely these people saw an opportunity to both make money by getting access back to cheap labour whilst simultaneously winning a propaganda victory by convincing everyone to blame Brexit.

- And in fact Brexit has allowed the government to rapidly adjust the criteria for licensing HGV drivers to help clear the backlog, which wouldn't otherwise have been possible under EU rules.

So that's the official line at the moment.

Re: Pumps run dry at gas stations in Britain

#155

Post by binbag »

sgt wrote: post #19
Bud wrote: post #7

This is all actually due to the initial phases of the inevitable collapse of the Galactic Empire, as foreseen by Hari Seldon.

How can we counteract this. Should perhaps one or two settlements be created at the opposite ends of the Earth be established? In order to make ready for the new empire?

The British did this a while back when their Empire still looked strong - the Foundation was North America. The silent sleeper cell second foundation is probably New Zealand. Unfortunately, Boris Johnson a.k.a the Mule came along.

Re: Pumps run dry at gas stations in Britain

#156

Post by bayesian_horse »

nicoburns wrote: post #101
brightball wrote: post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Just an observation. Ever since the announcement it seems like various groups on Reddit and elsewhere want to celebrate every difficulty that the UK experiences.

I think it's UK remainers pointing out the difficulties. Which is somewhat understandable considering: - Their political opponents have spent months dismissing their concerns as scaremongering. - Many would still like us to rejoin the EU at some point. So it makes sense to point out the advantages of doing so.

The UK will rejoin at some point, especially because the younger generation will demand it, but it will have to take a decade, more likely two, unless Brexit proves to be an uncontroversial disaster and GB falls behind extremely. I wouldn't wish that on anybody.

There is just too much national pride around this move, and the British political system is so thoroughly messed up that it will take one or two leadership generations for them to come to their senses. They can hardly manage the exit, the Reintegration would be even harder.

Re: Pumps run dry at gas stations in Britain

#157

Post by dukeyukey »

heywherelogingo wrote: post #53
jack_riminton wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The official line is that there is a lack of truck drivers, which is mostly true because Brexit has prevented a lot of the foreign drivers from working

No mention of lockdown effects detracts from the credibility of that comment.

I can tell you now, the UK has functionally no restrictions within the country. You ought to wear masks on public transport, that's about it. Lockdown is over, for now at least.

Re: Pumps run dry at gas stations in Britain

#158

Post by joeberon »

wsc981 wrote: post #146
joeberon wrote: post #92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm sorry that the reality I experience does not line up neatly with the one you want to believe

> I'm sorry that the reality I experience does not line up neatly with the one you want to believe Might it not be fairer to state the sentence either as this: > I'm sorry that the reality I want to believe does not line up neatly with the one you want to believe ... or this ... > I'm sorry that the reality I experience does not line up with the reality you experience All in good faith of the discussion.

I don't think so personally. I see it based on what I know versus what they know. I know about my reality, whereas they want to believe something different about my reality. I'm not saying they want to believe something about their _own_ reality, I'm saying that it is about my own. I had an experience and they are saying "no, you didn't", which is them projecting their belief onto my experience of reality. So I think that both of your examples do not express what I meant.

Re: Pumps run dry at gas stations in Britain

#159

Post by sgt101 »

rich_sasha wrote: post #97
teorema wrote: post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

... except there's also news reports everywhere of an energy crisis in Europe too? Also maybe Asia as well. I've been trying to read into the causes and dont feel like I've come to understand it any better. I'm tempted to see it as part of the broader supply chain crisis but I get the impression its a little different. Then again I'm not sure I understand why the broader supply chain disruption is as pervasive as it…

Apparently, petrol (gas for Americans) is plentiful at the refineries, but there aren't truck drivers who can drive it to the petrol station. For some weeks now, supermarkets have been somewhat sparsely stacked (no shortage of food in general, but definitely limited ranges etc.). There is no direct link to the spikes in energy prices.

I went to the supermarket on Saturday - every shelf was fully stacked - I walked around looking for missing things. I got bored and bought a steak and a bottle of wine and went home.

Re: Pumps run dry at gas stations in Britain

#160

Post by louthy »

mnw21cam wrote: post #117
rich_sasha wrote: post #97

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Apparently, petrol (gas for Americans) is plentiful at the refineries, but there aren't truck drivers who can drive it to the petrol station. For some weeks now, supermarkets have been somewhat sparsely stacked (no shortage of food in general, but definitely limited ranges etc.). There is no direct link to the spikes in energy prices.

It should be noted that the photographs that the news outlets use in the articles about supermarket shortages are mostly from last year. It's deceptive.

We don’t need to rely on photographs to physically see the sparse shelves with our own eyes
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