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The f**tards are at it again... 10:32 - Sep 24 with 8424 viewsSitfcB

...big queues at all the petrol stations I’ve seen in and around Ipswich/Suffolk this morning.

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The f**tards are at it again... on 12:47 - Sep 24 with 1286 viewsGlasgowBlue

The f**tards are at it again... on 12:46 - Sep 24 by Swansea_Blue

I bet it's more than 5. There have been 2 garages near me lately with pretty much the whole forecourt closed. Mind you, it's harder for the horse and carts to reach this backwater!

There's certainly a feedback loop though irrespective of how serious shortages are. Shouting 'don't panic' is the surest way to get people to panic!


BP announced only 5 yesterday. Edit. Just checked. 2 out of 500 Tesco sites were closed yesterday.
[Post edited 24 Sep 2021 12:49]

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The f**tards are at it again... on 12:52 - Sep 24 with 1277 viewsbluelagos

The f**tards are at it again... on 12:40 - Sep 24 by Guthrum

You say that, but in previous similar crises, there have been cases of people storing the stuff in buckets, open barrels and other unsuitable containers. Also attempting to steal petrol from parked vehicles, including by cutting fuel pipes.


Amateurs. In Lagos the locals would fill up jerry cans, water down the petrol, then walk down the queues at the petrol stations offering petrol at twice the price of said station.

Mind you, those were proper queues. I'd often send my driver to get fuel at 8am and be waiting til the afternoon for him to return.

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The f**tards are at it again... on 13:01 - Sep 24 with 1248 viewsSwansea_Blue

The f**tards are at it again... on 12:47 - Sep 24 by GlasgowBlue

BP announced only 5 yesterday. Edit. Just checked. 2 out of 500 Tesco sites were closed yesterday.
[Post edited 24 Sep 2021 12:49]


We've had our local texaco and an independent run out this week. They've probably had deliveries by now though, as it's only the driver shortage and not fuel shortage isn't it.

People are nuts.

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The f**tards are at it again... on 13:08 - Sep 24 with 1240 viewsloftboy

The f**tards are at it again... on 13:01 - Sep 24 by Swansea_Blue

We've had our local texaco and an independent run out this week. They've probably had deliveries by now though, as it's only the driver shortage and not fuel shortage isn't it.

People are nuts.


Queues all around Lowestoft, bloody idiots.
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The f**tards are at it again... on 13:11 - Sep 24 with 1232 viewsgiant_stow

The f**tards are at it again... on 12:29 - Sep 24 by GlasgowBlue

Yeah. I suppose we could blame Corbyn for Brexit.

But seriously, Brexit has had little effect on the drivers shortage.

"According to ONS data, the loss of EU drivers is only a minor cause of the shortage. At the start of 2020, before the pandemic hit, there were 37,000 EU drivers in the UK. Now, there are 24,500.

That loss of 12,500 drivers only goes a little way to explaining the current shortfall. Given a total of almost 70,000 HGV drivers left during the pandemic alone, this represents just 18% of those who exiting.

It led a logistics thinktank led by Driver Require to conclude “EU drivers leaving the UK did not significantly contribute to the current shortage”, in a new report published this week.

Brits are certainly the more significant factor. Over 55,000 domestic drivers left the industry during the last 18 months. Retirement, a lack of driving tests during Covid, and tax changes have all been cited as the cause.

Retirement has certainly played its part. The haulage industry is an ageing workforce, evidenced by an average age of HGV drivers of 55 years old. Less than 1% are under 25, according to the Road Haulage Association. In 2019, the number of drivers over 50 exceeded those under 50 for the first time [ONS].

It means the rate of retirement has unsurprisingly risen over the past decade, from around 7,500 per year in 2010 to 10,000 per year in 2020, according to analysis of ONS data by Driver Require. This works out at about 4% of the workforce retiring each year.

In pre-pandemic times at least, this was more than offset by new entrants to the industry. Between 2015 and 2019, there were three times more test passes each year than retirements. In theory, driver numbers should have been growing.

However, this wasn’t the case — suggesting many of those who passed their test choose not to drive commercial HGV vehicles at all.

There are now more than 230,000 HGV licence holders under the age of 45 alone in the UK deciding not to work in the commercial haulage sector. For whatever reason, these people have spent around £3,000 acquiring an HGV license only to later opt out of driving commercial vehicles for a living.

To put that in perspective, there are more 30 to 34-year-olds that fall into this category than there were total EU drivers in the UK before the pandemic.
[Post edited 24 Sep 2021 12:33]


This piece presents a different story (right or wrong): https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/57810729

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The f**tards are at it again... on 13:13 - Sep 24 with 1228 viewsChurchman

Big queues in Kent too, but not at those stations that have already run out. It’s no good that grinning mutant Schapps saying there is plenty of fuel at the refineries. That’s like telling me there are plenty of bananas in Barbados if I want a bunch.

For me, I have to be in Suffolk this weekend for domestic reasons (not the football sadly) so I had to have sufficient petrol, obviously, so when I eventually did find somewhere with petrol, I queued up with the rest.

Some idiot on tv just now was saying if you don’t need to fill up, don’t. But if you don’t need to fill up, you won’t. It’s an idiotic thing to say. This is a problem of the government’s making. The Tories have never valued infrastructure or the people that support it, but then if you food comes in a Harrods van and your petrol is got by your flunkey, you wouldn’t care would you.

If there is a shortage of drivers, surely short term visas for foreign drivers is one obvious move that might help a little. What won’t help is hoping the problem just goes away - similar to Boris’ ‘let the bodies pile high’ policy.

The government have known about the potential issue of moving goods, including petrol, around post Brexit well before last January. All this was looked at. It should be no surprise to them. They’ve been told, but of course in telling people there’s no guarantee they’ll listen.
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The f**tards are at it again... on 13:14 - Sep 24 with 1212 viewsGlasgowBlue

The f**tards are at it again... on 13:11 - Sep 24 by giant_stow

This piece presents a different story (right or wrong): https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/57810729


Your link only briefly states “ There is evidence of HGV driver shortages across Europe, but the UK has been among the hardest hit by the problem. This was because many European drivers went back to their home countries, or decided to work elsewhere”

This was already addressed in my op and was from ONS stats.

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The f**tards are at it again... on 13:16 - Sep 24 with 1207 viewsgiant_stow

The f**tards are at it again... on 13:14 - Sep 24 by GlasgowBlue

Your link only briefly states “ There is evidence of HGV driver shortages across Europe, but the UK has been among the hardest hit by the problem. This was because many European drivers went back to their home countries, or decided to work elsewhere”

This was already addressed in my op and was from ONS stats.


You haven't read down far enough! Check the under the heading 'What about Brexit?' and the subsequent Haulier survey.

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The f**tards are at it again... on 13:24 - Sep 24 with 1173 viewsSwansea_Blue

The f**tards are at it again... on 13:01 - Sep 24 by Swansea_Blue

We've had our local texaco and an independent run out this week. They've probably had deliveries by now though, as it's only the driver shortage and not fuel shortage isn't it.

People are nuts.


Our local paper has a live queue watch going on. The 'joys' of local media eh? The highlight yesterday was something about Britney Spears being back on instagram.

Duh! Supposed to be a reply to loftboy
[Post edited 24 Sep 2021 13:24]

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The f**tards are at it again... on 13:26 - Sep 24 with 1162 viewsGlasgowBlue

The f**tards are at it again... on 13:16 - Sep 24 by giant_stow

You haven't read down far enough! Check the under the heading 'What about Brexit?' and the subsequent Haulier survey.


I can only repeat the facts as presented by the ONS.

the loss of EU drivers is only a minor cause of the shortage. At the start of 2020, before the pandemic hit, there were 37,000 EU drivers in the UK. Now, there are 24,500. This represents just 18% of those who exiting.

Over 55,000 domestic drivers left the industry during the last 18 months. Retirement, a lack of driving tests during Covid, and tax changes have all been cited as the cause.

Retirement has certainly played its part. Less than 1% are under 25. In 2019, the number of drivers over 50 exceeded those under 50 for the first time. 4% of the workforce is retiring each year.

In pre-pandemic times this was more than offset by new entrants to the industry. Between 2015 and 2019, there were three times more test passes each year than retirements.

There are now more than 230,000 HGV licence holders under the age of 45 alone in the UK deciding not to work in the commercial haulage sector. To put that in perspective, there are more 30 to 34-year-olds that fall into this category than there were total EU drivers in the UK before the pandemic.

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The f**tards are at it again... on 13:28 - Sep 24 with 1159 viewsBasuco

The f**tards are at it again... on 13:13 - Sep 24 by Churchman

Big queues in Kent too, but not at those stations that have already run out. It’s no good that grinning mutant Schapps saying there is plenty of fuel at the refineries. That’s like telling me there are plenty of bananas in Barbados if I want a bunch.

For me, I have to be in Suffolk this weekend for domestic reasons (not the football sadly) so I had to have sufficient petrol, obviously, so when I eventually did find somewhere with petrol, I queued up with the rest.

Some idiot on tv just now was saying if you don’t need to fill up, don’t. But if you don’t need to fill up, you won’t. It’s an idiotic thing to say. This is a problem of the government’s making. The Tories have never valued infrastructure or the people that support it, but then if you food comes in a Harrods van and your petrol is got by your flunkey, you wouldn’t care would you.

If there is a shortage of drivers, surely short term visas for foreign drivers is one obvious move that might help a little. What won’t help is hoping the problem just goes away - similar to Boris’ ‘let the bodies pile high’ policy.

The government have known about the potential issue of moving goods, including petrol, around post Brexit well before last January. All this was looked at. It should be no surprise to them. They’ve been told, but of course in telling people there’s no guarantee they’ll listen.


An HGV driver training company said on TV this morning it is taking 10 weeks to get a provisional HGV licence and 12 weeks to get a test, so no new HGV drivers this year then.
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The f**tards are at it again... on 13:36 - Sep 24 with 1144 viewsEly_Blue

The f**tards are at it again... on 13:13 - Sep 24 by Churchman

Big queues in Kent too, but not at those stations that have already run out. It’s no good that grinning mutant Schapps saying there is plenty of fuel at the refineries. That’s like telling me there are plenty of bananas in Barbados if I want a bunch.

For me, I have to be in Suffolk this weekend for domestic reasons (not the football sadly) so I had to have sufficient petrol, obviously, so when I eventually did find somewhere with petrol, I queued up with the rest.

Some idiot on tv just now was saying if you don’t need to fill up, don’t. But if you don’t need to fill up, you won’t. It’s an idiotic thing to say. This is a problem of the government’s making. The Tories have never valued infrastructure or the people that support it, but then if you food comes in a Harrods van and your petrol is got by your flunkey, you wouldn’t care would you.

If there is a shortage of drivers, surely short term visas for foreign drivers is one obvious move that might help a little. What won’t help is hoping the problem just goes away - similar to Boris’ ‘let the bodies pile high’ policy.

The government have known about the potential issue of moving goods, including petrol, around post Brexit well before last January. All this was looked at. It should be no surprise to them. They’ve been told, but of course in telling people there’s no guarantee they’ll listen.


Sorry but so much of this is b0ll0x from you

The fuel in the refinery vs bananas analogy doesn’t work, if you said in the warehouse then you’d be correct, he’s saying it as unlike 20 years ago when the drivers blockaded the refineries the fuel can get out, it will just take longer and he’s trying his best to reassure people that the fuel is there and that there is no need to panic buy.

As for the guy on tv he is correct and you are wrong again, it was proved last year with loo rolls and pasta that people will buy even when they don’t need to, that is what people are doing with fuel, I saw it with my own eyes this morning when I came back home past a Shell station that gets 1 customer an hour if they are lucky on a usual day and today all pumps were in use with around 6-7 cars queuing onto the road - are you saying all of those car drivers suddenly NEEDED to fill up or were just being driven by selfish greed?

How do you propose short term visas working when the hgv driver shortage is not unique to the uk (Germany is short 60k drivers and Poland 100k+ short as examples)

Re your last line I’m sure the facts presented above will fall on your own deaf ears

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The f**tards are at it again... on 13:39 - Sep 24 with 1134 viewsSwansea_Blue

The f**tards are at it again... on 13:16 - Sep 24 by giant_stow

You haven't read down far enough! Check the under the heading 'What about Brexit?' and the subsequent Haulier survey.


Interesting article here on why the raw numbers of driver shortages only tell part of the story. ('Cabotage' is when when the goods are moved around in one country by drivers of another country - I had to look it up).

https://trans.info/en/there-s-a-europe-wide-hgv-driver-shortage-so-why-do-uk-sup

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The f**tards are at it again... on 13:41 - Sep 24 with 1133 viewsSarge

The f**tards are at it again... on 13:13 - Sep 24 by Churchman

Big queues in Kent too, but not at those stations that have already run out. It’s no good that grinning mutant Schapps saying there is plenty of fuel at the refineries. That’s like telling me there are plenty of bananas in Barbados if I want a bunch.

For me, I have to be in Suffolk this weekend for domestic reasons (not the football sadly) so I had to have sufficient petrol, obviously, so when I eventually did find somewhere with petrol, I queued up with the rest.

Some idiot on tv just now was saying if you don’t need to fill up, don’t. But if you don’t need to fill up, you won’t. It’s an idiotic thing to say. This is a problem of the government’s making. The Tories have never valued infrastructure or the people that support it, but then if you food comes in a Harrods van and your petrol is got by your flunkey, you wouldn’t care would you.

If there is a shortage of drivers, surely short term visas for foreign drivers is one obvious move that might help a little. What won’t help is hoping the problem just goes away - similar to Boris’ ‘let the bodies pile high’ policy.

The government have known about the potential issue of moving goods, including petrol, around post Brexit well before last January. All this was looked at. It should be no surprise to them. They’ve been told, but of course in telling people there’s no guarantee they’ll listen.


“ Some idiot on tv just now was saying if you don’t need to fill up, don’t. But if you don’t need to fill up, you won’t. It’s an idiotic thing to say”

I hardly think the entire country woke up today and found their petrol tanks empty. Most of these people don’t ‘need’ to fill up, otherwise the queues would be no different to any other day. They’re there because they think ooh I’ll just top it up in case it runs out, seemingly unaware that they and other utter cretins like them are the reason stations might run out.

Like last March, this is a problem caused by the media (social or otherwise) reporting that there might be a problem, causing selfish turds to act accordingly and risk actually causing a problem.

Fortunately unlike pasta there is actually a limit to how much fuel you can store but you can guarantee there are plenty of cars now with full tanks that wouldn’t ordinarily be.
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The f**tards are at it again... on 13:54 - Sep 24 with 1107 viewsBluebell

I actually needed fuel today so queued. Mr Bluebell’s car has enough to get to Ipswich tomorrow but then we might have to rely on my car.

There are about 18 pumps (in groups of 3) at our local Sainsbury’s and about 15 cars queueing behind each group. Took about 30 minutes to fill up.

As long as we can get to Ipswich I will be happy!





I don’t think I have ever mentioned we have a round trip of 300 miles.
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The f**tards are at it again... on 13:59 - Sep 24 with 1098 viewsEly_Blue

The f**tards are at it again... on 13:54 - Sep 24 by Bluebell

I actually needed fuel today so queued. Mr Bluebell’s car has enough to get to Ipswich tomorrow but then we might have to rely on my car.

There are about 18 pumps (in groups of 3) at our local Sainsbury’s and about 15 cars queueing behind each group. Took about 30 minutes to fill up.

As long as we can get to Ipswich I will be happy!





I don’t think I have ever mentioned we have a round trip of 300 miles.


I’m in a similar situation as I’ve moved in the last few months and it’s a 400 mile round trip for me to get to games now……….. checked the motor this morning and it’s got 70 miles in the tank, looks like I’m either queuing later or getting up extra early in the morning to fill up

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The f**tards are at it again... on 14:03 - Sep 24 with 1089 viewshype313

Woodbridge road is carnage, with queues all around trying to get to one of the 3 stations.

It's absurd, when someone in the media says "Don't Panic" everyone then seems to panic.

Reminds me of a scene from Airplane.

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The f**tards are at it again... on 14:03 - Sep 24 with 1088 viewsGuthrum

The f**tards are at it again... on 12:45 - Sep 24 by GlasgowBlue

The difference between 2000 and now is that back then there was a blockade of the refineries by strikers. Little to no petrol was allowed to leave refineries so there was a genuine shortage.

The supply chain may not be perfect but there isn't a shortage of the product and there is no blockade to stop it reaching the pumps.

So long as people don't drive around on empty there won't be any need for mass storage.


Indeed. But you can guarantee some people will not be sensible about this.

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The f**tards are at it again... on 14:34 - Sep 24 with 1026 viewsitfcjoe

The f**tards are at it again... on 11:03 - Sep 24 by chicoazul

Same here in sunny north Essex. Obviously if you asked any of them they would have a perfectly good reason for them being there.


I got stuck in a queue for the station at Tesco on the magic roundabout in Colchester - had a quarter of a tank but thought may as well fill up if sitting in a queue for 20 minutes to get out of the car park as it is!

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The f**tards are at it again... on 15:54 - Sep 24 with 942 viewsThe_Major

There's a NewsThump post that's come out today proposing the national anthem is changed to this.

Somewhat apt, I feel.

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The f**tards are at it again... on 16:02 - Sep 24 with 928 viewsChrisd

Yep, it’s rather embarrassing, but predictable behaviour unfortunately.

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The f**tards are at it again... on 16:42 - Sep 24 with 871 viewsjas0999

Always fill up on the way home on a Friday. All petrol stations on route have sold out. People are behaving like idiots. No need to panic buy.
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The f**tards are at it again... on 16:43 - Sep 24 with 870 viewsRyorry

The f**tards are at it again... on 13:26 - Sep 24 by GlasgowBlue

I can only repeat the facts as presented by the ONS.

the loss of EU drivers is only a minor cause of the shortage. At the start of 2020, before the pandemic hit, there were 37,000 EU drivers in the UK. Now, there are 24,500. This represents just 18% of those who exiting.

Over 55,000 domestic drivers left the industry during the last 18 months. Retirement, a lack of driving tests during Covid, and tax changes have all been cited as the cause.

Retirement has certainly played its part. Less than 1% are under 25. In 2019, the number of drivers over 50 exceeded those under 50 for the first time. 4% of the workforce is retiring each year.

In pre-pandemic times this was more than offset by new entrants to the industry. Between 2015 and 2019, there were three times more test passes each year than retirements.

There are now more than 230,000 HGV licence holders under the age of 45 alone in the UK deciding not to work in the commercial haulage sector. To put that in perspective, there are more 30 to 34-year-olds that fall into this category than there were total EU drivers in the UK before the pandemic.


This was backed up by the R5l phone in on the issue this morning, with 2 or 3 HGV drivers + one transport manager (also p/t driver) contributing at length.

Very poor conditions (8 hours without being allowed use of toilet whilst waiting for ppl to unload in a supermarket warehouse where goods need onward transport by s'mkts own drivers, e.g.); ageing drivers as you mention; steep cost of having to self-fund tests; industry not geared at all for female drivers etc etc. all cited as reasons.

And those UK drivers speaking on the show said they didn't want the rules changed to allow EU drivers back even on a temp basis, as while some of them are competent/good, others aren't - can't reverse into loading bays etc., have to get the UK drivers to do it for them (anecdotal, obvs).

Edit: direct link, all relevant from about 4 minutes in
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m000zvhr
[Post edited 24 Sep 2021 16:51]

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The f**tards are at it again... on 16:50 - Sep 24 with 849 viewsRadioOrwell

The f**tards are at it again... on 10:52 - Sep 24 by GlasgowBlue

I don't think we can blame Corbyn for a pandemic which has caused a shortage of HGV drivers across the whole of the world.


Give it time.
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The f**tards are at it again... on 16:58 - Sep 24 with 829 viewsRadioOrwell

The f**tards are at it again... on 11:42 - Sep 24 by GlasgowBlue

Kay Burley was awful on Sky News this morning. Whipping up mass panic.


It's her job.
Mass panic is great news.

You want to look at the news media when there's a sniff of war.
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