Petrol shortage

[the old novice 13]

My take on things is.

The fuel shortage was just a news story that went viral and perfectly illustrates how easy it is the get joe public to do stupid things ,in this case queue for petrol, at the start of the pandemic is was bog roll and the mind boggles as to what we may next nearly run out of. Although hopefully its Audi A4 cabrio's as i've got one hanging out of my arse. We run 15 large hgv's and eat through masses of fuel. All of our fuel suppliers contacted us to say it was " business as usual"  and to ignore the hype. The wagon driver shortage is also not far away from a non story as well. Although i do think that certain sectors of the haulage industry struggle to source and retain drivers, this is mainly (in my opinion) due to how those guys are being treated and demoralized at  large mega warehouses where they are almost dehumanised told to wait in wagon, not allowed to go and have a brew in canteen,its only just been forced through that it wasnt lawful to stop a driver from using the toilet whilst waiting on your premises. Then the constant risk of finding an asylum seeker in your wagon who will 100% fight you for the right to hide in your wagon. There was and might still might  be a £2000 fine  per stowaway found in your wagon if you're seen to have not taken enough precautions at thats for the driver  by the way! Overnight parking is a total lottery with facilities being more often than not complete shit holes. More investment is needed in  improving the facilities and this will quite easily solve many issues that are at play here, offering big pay rises doesn't work longer term, this will be only cause inflation to rise. We have all our hgv's mounted up and a waiting list of guys to start, thats not because we are good at what we do its because our guys  get looked after and shown a bit of respect and courtesy. Providing a   clean toilet, a rest room with free coffee and tea isnt rocket science  FFS.

By biggest worry is the impending change in fuel regulations whereby red diesel/gas oil will not be able to be used on construction sites. Meaning that all heavy plant will be running on  white diesel/derv. I can only imagine at the amount of site theft of fuel that will now occur. So we are now looking at buying a fuel truck to fuel our on site plant rather than keep fuel on site. Security guards and camera's will have to be  the order of the day wherever we've got heavy plant located. I got notification this morning that the aggregate  suppliers are putting a cubic metre of concrete by £11.00 in April  2022 to cover the fuel uplift.

Anyway, hopefully those that have read this far have found  my ramblings insightful.

All of a sudden paying well into CAP clean seems like a  piece of piss.

Just got sell this soft top Audi now and a well earned piss up will be on the cards.

Edited October 8, 2021 by the old novice

[TRADE SURVIVOR 33]

Great post Sir! Very enlightening.

[Bmx Bandits 52]

4 hours ago, the old novice said:

My take on things is.

The fuel shortage was just a news story that went viral and perfectly illustrates how easy it is the get joe public to do stupid things ,in this case queue for petrol, at the start of the pandemic is was bog roll and the mind boggles as to what we may next nearly run out of. Although hopefully its Audi A4 cabrio's as i've got one hanging out of my arse. We run 15 large hgv's and eat through masses of fuel. All of our fuel suppliers contacted us to say it was " business as usual"  and to ignore the hype. The wagon driver shortage is also not far away from a non story as well. Although i do think certain sectors of the haulage struggle to source and retain drivers, this is mainly (in my opinion) due to how those guys are being treated and demoralized at  large mega warehouses where they are almost dehumanised told to wait in wagon, not allowed to go and have a brew in canteen,its only just been forced through that it wasnt lawful to stop a driver from using the toilet whilst waiting on your premises. Then the constant risk of finding an asylum seeker in your wagon who will 100% fight you for the right to hide in your wagon. There was, might still be a £2000 per stowaway found in your wagon if you're seek to have not taken enough precautions at thats for the driver  by the way! Overnight parking is a total lottery with facilities being more often than not complete shit holes. More investment is needed in  improving the facilities and this will quite easily solve many issues that are at play here, offering big pay rises doesn't work longer term, this will be only cause inflation to rise. We have all our hgv's mounted up and a waiting list of guys to start, thats not because we are good at what we do its because our guys  get looked after and shown a bit of respect and courtesy. Providing a   clean toilet, a rest room with free coffee and tea isnt rocket science  FFS.

By biggest worry is the impending change in fuel regulations whereby red diesel/gas oil will not be able to be used on construction sites. Meaning that all heavy plant will be running on  white diesel/derv. I can only imagine at the amount of site theft of fuel that will now occur. So we are now looking at buying a fuel truck to fuel our on site plant rather than keep fuel on site. Security guards and camera's will have to be  the order of the day wherever we've got heavy plant located. I got notification this morning that the aggregate  suppliers are putting a cubic metre of concrete by £11.00 in April  2022 to cover the fuel uplift.

Anyway, hopefully those that have read this far have found  my ramblings insightful.

All of a sudden paying well into CAP clean seems easier like  piece of piss.

Just got sell this soft top Audi now and a well earned piss up will be on the cards.

Good to get the inside take on things and I’ve got a couple of spare convertibles just incase you get a run of panic buyers

Edited October 8, 2021 by Bmx Bandits

[TRADE SURVIVOR 33]

Yep we have a few drop tops around at the moment, optimistic that they will be out the door turn of the year   

[TRADE SURVIVOR 33]

5 hours ago, the old novice said:

Although i do think certain sectors of the haulage struggle to source and retain drivers, this is mainly (in my opinion) due to how those guys are being treated and demoralized at  large mega warehouses where they are almost dehumanised told to wait in wagon, not allowed to go and have a brew in canteen,its only just been forced through that it wasnt lawful to stop a driver from using the toilet whilst waiting on your premises. Then the constant risk of finding an asylum seeker in your wagon who will 100% fight you for the right to hide in your wagon. There was, might still be a £2000 per stowaway found in your wagon if you're seek to have not taken enough precautions at thats for the driver  by the way! Overnight parking is a total lottery with facilities being more often than not complete shit holes. More investment is needed in  improving the facilities and this will quite easily solve many issues that are at play here, offering big pay rises doesn't work longer term, this will be only cause inflation to rise. We have all our hgv's mounted up and a waiting list of guys to start, thats not because we are good at what we do its because our guys  get looked after and shown a bit of respect and courtesy. Providing a   clean toilet, a rest room with free coffee and tea isnt rocket science  FFS.

These guys clearly should have better conditions for sure, the industry should step up and ensure drivers have access to decent facilities.

Edited October 8, 2021 by TRADE SURVIVOR
Additional content

[metcars 394]

On 10/8/2021 at 4:42 PM, the old novice said:

...........,, got notification this morning that the aggregate  suppliers are putting a cubic metre of concrete by £11.00 in April  2022 to cover the fuel uplift........

Just as well you can now grow your own concrete?