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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

#181

Post by toofy »

BitwiseFool wrote: post #76
brightball wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You definitely get the impression that the other EU members intend to punish the UK for leaving.

I definitely sense a smug air of "this is all your fault and you deserve every ounce of pain for leaving. Let that be a lesson to you!"

Considering how smug the pro-leave people were and how they were repeatedly and loudly insulting towards those who wanted to remain, surely we’re not surprised.

Particularly when people were screaming at the tops of their lungs, “There’s a lot of absolutely fundamental societal wide issues that should be considered…”

There is nothing shocking here.

Re: Pumps run dry at gas stations in Britain

#182

Post by petercooper »

chrononaut wrote: post #133
TomGullen wrote: post #17

Unlike the toilet paper panic buying there is limited capacity people can buy, so I would expect this to naturally end short term when people don’t have capacity to buy any more. What concerns me is government planning to address this looks a lot more forward looking than a few days/a week, so I can see it getting worse. Interesting how the government say it’s not a shortage, if the refineries were running low you wo…

> ..as I think most people are just filling up to the top instead of half way.. Perhaps I am missing something here, but are you referring to vehicles in this context? Is it not common to always fill your tank to the top?

I always fill up myself because I hate filling up any more than I have to, but when it costs the equivalent of $70 to fill even a tiny car or $140 for a large car, no, it's pretty common to just buy "what you need" for the next few days or whatever.

Re: Pumps run dry at gas stations in Britain

#183

Post by WJW »

plutonorm wrote: post #180

Seems strange that this has nothing at all to do with the rapidly rising prices of petrol in the UK. Russia has been reducing the flow of petrol into Europe due to conflict over a new pipeline. The UK has a had a terrible windy season, meaning more demand for fossil fuels. And economic recovery after the pandemic, all these things have pushed prices really high. This shortage of drivers thing is likely a convenient s…

How would a windy season lead to more demand for fossil fuels? You'd think all the wind turbines going full swing would mean less electricity has to be generated with non-renewable means, thereby reducing demand for fossil fuels.

Re: Pumps run dry at gas stations in Britain

#184

Post by rusk »

s_dev wrote: post #69
brightball wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You definitely get the impression that the other EU members intend to punish the UK for leaving.

You also get the impression the UK wanted to have its cake and eat it too. Some of the Brexit political promises are pure delusion. I think a few over zealous Brexiteers might be conflating not getting rewarded with punishment.

EU membership conferred privileges which were seen as entitlements, so when inevitably withdrawn it seems like punishment.

It has to be said though, that the EU did go to great lengths to try to find some kind of common ground that would leave much of the entitlements in place (as a matter of self-interest of course, as these amounted to business for various EU states) - to which the HMG responded with V-signs and blowing loud Benny-Hill raspberries.

To trade across international borders you have to have agreements, and you can't have an agreement with somebody who openly flouts the rules at every given opportunity.

I wouldn't be relying on your neighbours' nativist agendas to drive some sort of "free trade" angle either cause nativism typically favours tariffs.

Re: Pumps run dry at gas stations in Britain

#185

Post by petercooper »

timellis-smith wrote: post #67
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

Brexit may be a (small) part of it, but it certainly isn't the whole picture. Btw much of Europe faces a shortage of drivers as well. There are a number of factors at play including delayed testing because of covid, relatively low wages, and perhaps drivers shifting to more local deliveries e.g. supermarkets post covid due to changing demand. I was speaking to a taxi driver who said the taxi industry was being decima…

Brexit may be a (small) part of it, but it certainly isn't the whole picture. Btw much of Europe faces a shortage of drivers as well.

Yes, though Europe is a larger "network." I think it's a bit like Metcalfe's law. Even if the EU has similar shortages of labor or goods, the larger number of citizens and companies allows things to flow to and from wherever they're needed more easily. The UK is now a separate far smaller system no longer plugged into that larger network.

Re: Pumps run dry at gas stations in Britain

#186

Post by rusk »

snarf21 wrote: post #127
brightball wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You definitely get the impression that the other EU members intend to punish the UK for leaving.

Not helping them solve their problems is different than actively punishing them.

But they did try to help! They spent years trying to negotiate some kind of trade deal, as many European economies stood to lose out ... but it's clear that the unilateral no deal approach was the plan from the outset.

Re: Pumps run dry at gas stations in Britain

#187

Post by ZetaZero »

tialaramex wrote: post #145
chrononaut wrote: post #133

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> ..as I think most people are just filling up to the top instead of half way.. Perhaps I am missing something here, but are you referring to vehicles in this context? Is it not common to always fill your tank to the top?

No. It's a waste of money. Britain is a small country, you're not going to run out of fuel (ordinarily) on a trip and so it makes sense to keep the money in your pocket instead of turning it into fuel that's sat there doing nothing useful. Also, it's very common to buy round amounts of value e.g. £30 of petrol, periodically, rather than just fill it up for however much that costs, for some people this makes it easier…

I haven't rounded to the nearest dollar in over 10 years, using credit cards. The only time I cared about rounding was when I paid in cash.

I always fill to the brim, as I value my time more than the incremental value that half a tank of gas will do for me. Obviously it's not the same for everyone.

Re: Pumps run dry at gas stations in Britain

#188

Post by xeromal »

chrononaut wrote: post #133
TomGullen wrote: post #17

Unlike the toilet paper panic buying there is limited capacity people can buy, so I would expect this to naturally end short term when people don’t have capacity to buy any more. What concerns me is government planning to address this looks a lot more forward looking than a few days/a week, so I can see it getting worse. Interesting how the government say it’s not a shortage, if the refineries were running low you wo…

> ..as I think most people are just filling up to the top instead of half way.. Perhaps I am missing something here, but are you referring to vehicles in this context? Is it not common to always fill your tank to the top?

It's not common for people who's budget doesn't allow for a full tank. My family usually just put in a certain amount. 10-20$. When I visit home, I make sure to fill up their tanks in secret and they look at me like I'm insane. "Who fills up a tank?!"

Re: Pumps run dry at gas stations in Britain

#189

Post by WJW »

wp381640 wrote: post #40
pjc50 wrote: post #2

Appears to be _mostly_ a mediagenic phenomenon: the driver shortage caused a few stations to run out, a minister told everyone not to panic buy, so they immediately started panic buying. Like the great toilet paper shortage. The lorry driver shortage inflicted by Brexit is starting to cause problems, though.

You can have one ass and buy a thousand rolls of toilet paper. You can't have one car and buy a thousand liters of fuel. This is pure supply shock

A sister comment on this article mentions that Halfords have seen jerrycan sales multiply 17-fold compared to last week. Perhaps a thousand liters is a bit much, but you can definitely get more than a carfull.

Re: Pumps run dry at gas stations in Britain

#190

Post by 015a »

TomGullen wrote: post #17

Unlike the toilet paper panic buying there is limited capacity people can buy, so I would expect this to naturally end short term when people don’t have capacity to buy any more. What concerns me is government planning to address this looks a lot more forward looking than a few days/a week, so I can see it getting worse. Interesting how the government say it’s not a shortage, if the refineries were running low you wo…

This sounds like the classic establishment divert-and-divide playbook for managing public outrage. Come up with some reasonable story which explains the problem by redirecting outrage at average people. Make sure we stay mad at each other.

Lately far too many of these playbooks have been focused on suppressing the systemic mistreatment of the working class. Fuel isn't running low because we can't find enough truck drivers due to systemic underpayment and overwork; its low because people are panic buying. Schools cant find enough teachers not because of underpayment and overwork; its because of right-wing pushback against mask mandates, people are scared to return to the classroom. Hospital ICUs aren't overflowing because of a critical care staff shortage due to systemic underpayment and overwork; its because of the unvaccinated.

The unfortunate reality is, these public relations control strategies work because there is some element of truth to Their explanation. Rarely do problems boil down to one solution; and if They can keep focus on the one, small element of the problem that encourages Us to stay mad at each-other, They don't have to worry about solving the systemic issues, built-up over decades, which anyone with half a brain could have seen coming.

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