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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

#311

Post by krona »

furyg3 wrote: post #27
simonswords82 wrote: post #6

Not suggesting that there are not other factors (Brexit, Covid etc) but the media have to shoulder the "panic" element of this. E.g. stop publishing photos of queueing cars and cordoned off pumps and report purely on the statistics of the matter. Too many media outlets are entirely hell bent on getting clicks without a care for the furore they induce in the general public as a result. Social media does of course ampl…

If this is true, this should only inconvenience people for a week or two. Unlike toilet paper, average citizens don't really have a way to store 100x more than their normal weekly consumption of petrol. So if there are no supply issues and only some distribution challenges, demand will slump off once everyone has had a chance to fill their tank and the 1-2 jerrycans they may have lying around.

It's worth noting, you can only store up to 30 litres of petrol at home or at non-workplace premises without informing your local Petroleum Enforcement Authority (PEA). https://www.hse.gov.uk/fireandexplosion/petrol-storage-club-...

Re: Pumps run dry at gas stations in Britain

#312

Post by fastaguy88 »

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?

When gas/petrol shortages occur, it is often because people fill up a 1/2 full tank, rather than waiting for it to be less than 1/4 full. This makes sense if you do not have confidence that you will be able to find gas. But it also means more trips to the station, and a net shift of fuel to automobile tanks.

Re: Pumps run dry at gas stations in Britain

#313

Post by WaltPurvis »

gifnamething wrote: post #310
WaltPurvis wrote: post #251

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That argument seems ridiculous. Gasoline weighs 6.3 pounds per gallon and most cars have 15-20 gallon tanks, so if you keep your tank around half-full your car will be lighter by maybe 50 or 60 pounds. Any performance improvement from that would be imperceptibly small.

Sorry but this is just wrong. The difference in feeling after filling up a small car from empty is significant just for normal driving. Look at what people pay for making sports cars lighter - 50 pounds is a lot!

Even small cars weigh thousands of pounds. Fifty pounds is objectively not a lot. If you're trying to tell me you can tell a significant difference in performance and handling in a car with a 7-year-old in the backseat versus no 7-year-old in the backseat, well, I don't believe you at all.

Re: Pumps run dry at gas stations in Britain

#314

Post by killingtime74 »

mattowen_uk wrote: post #262
stinkytaco wrote: post #203

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think about myself as a pretty standard middle class person who's obviously empathetic to those who have less. But this proves how easy it is to be out of touch an not even realize it. I really had no idea. I just assumed when you filled, you filled all the way.

Unless your petrol station is on one of your regular routes, it's false economy not to fill up completely when you have an empty tank, otherwise you are incurring an extra trip to the petrol station. Of course if you can't afford a full tank, and are living hand to mouth each month/week, then you are in the poverty trap where everything is a percentage more expensive for you overall.

It’s expensive being poor. They also pay more fees for financial products and the like. For example poor people use expensive Western Union and rich people use wire transfer

Re: Pumps run dry at gas stations in Britain

#315

Post by bayesian_horse »

fsslrisrchr wrote: post #266
Isinlor wrote: post #103

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As a Polish citizen I want to see post-Brexit UK struggle, so that my government doesn't get any stupid ideas of leaving EU.

As an Italian citizen, I hope for Poland to leave so my country's net transfers less money to the eastern countries and will, hopefully, encourage Italy to grow a pair and leave

Italy's economy is almost an integral part of the EU, so Italy leaving would probably end the EU as a whole. Italy's economy would hardly survive both being cut off from the trade union and its major trade partners taking a plunge.

And the point of "net transfers" is to build up markets in less developed parts of Europe. No European country benefits from what is happening in Poland right now.

Re: Pumps run dry at gas stations in Britain

#316

Post by bayesian_horse »

kwhitefoot wrote: post #171
bayesian_horse wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's definitely true that they lack truckers. They don't just grow on trees, and when a few tens of thousands leave, well...

There are hundreds of thousands of people in the UK with HGV licenses but only half of them driving. This problem has been brewing for decades as the jobs have been outsourced to low cost countries and the drivers mercilessly exploited. Now that some economies have improved and COVID has hit a lot of those drivers are either unavailable or simply unwilling to travel so far and so long in horrible working conditions f…

The reason software developers get paid more is that it is a lot harder for an average person to become a software developer than it is to get an HGV license. Basically anybody not suffering from mental impairment could master the skills for that license. That is not true of software development, and it also takes longer.

Re: Pumps run dry at gas stations in Britain

#317

Post by bayesian_horse »

eynsham wrote: post #175
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.

Every day I quake in my boots at the thought of the hideous revenge r/France will inflict upon us.

Like Boris Johnson said "Prennez un grip and donnez mois un break."

Not nice, and I dislike the guy but I found the quote somewhat funny.

Re: Pumps run dry at gas stations in Britain

#318

Post by dsq »

mattowen_uk wrote: post #262
stinkytaco wrote: post #203

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think about myself as a pretty standard middle class person who's obviously empathetic to those who have less. But this proves how easy it is to be out of touch an not even realize it. I really had no idea. I just assumed when you filled, you filled all the way.

Unless your petrol station is on one of your regular routes, it's false economy not to fill up completely when you have an empty tank, otherwise you are incurring an extra trip to the petrol station. Of course if you can't afford a full tank, and are living hand to mouth each month/week, then you are in the poverty trap where everything is a percentage more expensive for you overall.

Found this: https://theconversation.com/can-you-save-money-at-the-bowser...

Very nice calculation. The results were that by filling up two half tanks as opposed to fully topping off one can get an extra 3.5 kms, albeit with a time penalty for going twice to the gas station. Hardly worh it as just making the round trip to the gas station would probably eat up those kms. To this I would add the wear and tear on the car by having it run longer with a nearly empty tank, something which is not recommnded.

Re: Pumps run dry at gas stations in Britain

#319

Post by joeberon »

callamdelaney wrote: post #305
joeberon wrote: post #158

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

You have literally stated that any view which differs from yours is based on lies. Let me know how that works out for you. As an aside, this sort of attitude is probably why you ‘better educated’ people lost the vote.

No, I stated that every person I personally know who voted for Brexit did so primarily based on lies. It is strange that you cannot understand the difference.

Re: Pumps run dry at gas stations in Britain

#320

Post by sgt101 »

mywittyname wrote: post #272
sgt101 wrote: post #174

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Also if you fill it up you have to tow it around with you; an extra 40kgs of weight in the car which costs a bit. The fill it up to the brim meme seems to come from emergency preparedness folks like the police and the army where no vehicle goes to the parking space overnight without being 100% as ready as it can be for tomorrow.

>an extra 40kgs of weight in the car which costs a bit. Do European cars have gigantic fuel tanks? 40kgs is 40 / 0.71kg/L = 56.3L ~= 14.9 gallons. 14.9 gallons is as much, or more than any car I own carries. And I've never put more than 13 gallons into any vehicle ever during a single fill up. To have that kind of "spare" capacity beyond what would be necessary for my daily commute, I'd need to be driving a large SUV…

Ok 20kg :)

I guess the question is how much does moving 20kg extra cost you over 20k km?

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