Shortages at the pumps: what is that all about?
A LOOK AT THE CAUSES, AND HOW LONG THE QUEUES COULD GO ON
IT has been a nightmare for motorists over the last few days as the fuel crisis continues and forecourts run dry.
Burton and South Derbyshire have been no exception and the hard-working staff at the petrol stations deserve a medal for what they have had to endure.
Uttoxeter completely ran out of both petrol and diesel at one point, with every station in and around the town dry. Other garages ran dry or were short of fuel in Burton and Swadlincote.
Drivers have been queuing for long periods in a bid to make sure they could fill up, with some stations having a spending limit in a bid to make sure there was enough to go around as people flocked to the pumps fearing a fuel shortage.
The reasons why the situation has happened are not straightforward and it could go on for a little longer yet.
What caused the crisis?
Reports trace the start of the panic-buying to ITV reporting on Thursday last week of some comments made by Hanna Hofer, head of BP’S retail business, at a Cabinet Office meeting.
A “leak” revealed that she had claimed BP only had two thirds of its normal amounts of fuel.
ITV News reported her as saying the “urgency of the situation” was “bad, very bad”.
Those comments were picked up by other news organisations the same day and by the following day there was a new news story – queues at petrol pumps.
Transport Secretary Grant Shapps urged people not to panic buy but motorists, genuinely panicking about running out of petrol, went to top up their tanks before the forecourts ran dry - which many have now done.
Are supplies really running low?
The problem is all about getting petrol and diesel to the pumps. The “urgent situation” was never a shortage of fuel but a shortage of drivers to transport petrol to the forecourts.
Since the panic buying began companies, including BP, have moved to reassure motorists that their supplies are still healthy and that the problem would work itself out once the panic ended.
In a joint statement, they said: “Many cars are now holding more fuel than usual” and now the forecourt stock of fuel would “return to its normal levels in the coming days”.
However, the chair of the Petrol Retailers Association, Brian Madderson, has told the BBC panic buying is not ending because each time a petrol station gets a delivery, the news is shared by people on social media and the supply runs out.
What is being done to tackle the shortage?
There has been pressure to get the Army involved in driving fuel tankers to avert a crisis – particularly with worries about medics and other key workers not having enough fuel to get to work.
Now the business secretary Kwasi Kwarteng has said the Army could “provide the supply chain with additional capacity” but it is not a done deal yet.
Calling in soldiers was described as a “last resort” by the chairman of the transport select committee, Huw Merriman, the BBC reported.
The Government has made some changes to HGV licensing to help – firstly, by extending all qualified drivers’ licences, and secondly some other driving requirements, such as caravan towing exams, have been relaxed to allow more HGV drivers to get qualified.
How much impact is the shortage of HGV drivers having at the moment?
The director of the Road Haulage Association has said the driver shortages were a serious problem being caused by factors including Brexit and the coronavirus pandemic.
Speaking to BBC Breakfast on Friday last week, Rod Mckenzie said: “We’re 100,000 drivers short at the moment.
“We’ve had a historic shortage of about 50,000 but add to that the 20,000 European drivers who left the industry because of Brexit, and a further 40,000 cancelled track and training tests.
When is it likely to end?
The chair of the Petrol Retailers Association, Brian Madderson, told the BBC the problem could continue into next week because people were sending out alerts on social media when tankers arrive at some fuel stations.
In a separate interview with the Mirror he predicted it would continue for another week or maybe 10 days, saying: “The problem we’ve got is there are a finite number of tankers that can carry fuel and a finite number of drivers.”