Taxi Driver Online

Not too much on the trade angle here, and the rest of it is stuff we all know already.

So the article may feel a bit, er, padded out


Fuel panic buying crisis could lead to taxi drivers out of work and people unable to get cabs on nights out warns head of Medway taxi association

https://www.kentonline.co.uk/medway/new ... nd-254600/

The head of a taxi drivers' association says its members face being out of work if the fuel panic buying crisis continues through the weekend.

Nigel Jackson, chairman of the Medway Licensed Taxi Drivers' Association (MLTDA), warned of a serious "knock-on effect" in the wider public transport network.

"It's just absolutely ridiculous," he told KentOnline. "From a driver's point of view the message is if you can't get a cab home from your night out then don't be surprised.

"I've got about three quarters of a tank which will last me maybe two shifts.

"But there's a massive knock-on effect on the elderly and vulnerable who rely on us for food shopping or hospital."

Mr Jackson said there was a real risk that if drivers were unable to get fuel because the pumps have been emptied due to panic buying then people may be struggling to work early next week.

All taxi drivers in Medway are self employed and Mr Jackson said the costs of running a car without fuel costs alone run into "several hundred pounds per week".

The government has repeatedly stressed today there is plenty of fuel in the supply chain after issues were reported by BP on Thursday in supplying a handful of its forecourts.

Mr Jackson added he hoped the panic buying seen across the Medway Towns and Kent today would die down within 48 hours but warned if it did not then there would be "a real knock-on effect".

Taxi operators in Medway have contracts with the likes of G4S for hospital transport and Network Rail for train drivers, which Mr Jackson said could be affected if they were unable to do "those longer runs" should they run out of diesel.

"We could be in a situation where it could cause a massive hole in the public transport system," he said.

"We've just had the worst 18 months and trying to get back on our feet. But with no fuel, it means no work. With it falling on a weekend, which is our busiest time, it couldn't have come at a worse time.

"If you lose your weekend trade drivers are playing catch up so it's going to be a long week.

"Fingers crossed this is just going to be a 24 to 48 hour thing and is going to a temporary blip."

Drivers have reported "total gridlock" in Medway due to the high volume of people attempting to fill up.

Mr Jackson said despite the fears about fuel shortages, no drivers had reported being unable to work because they could not fill up but many had spent extra time and fuel sitting in traffic caused by queues outside petrol stations today.

Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said this morning drivers should "carry on as normal" and there was "no need" to panic buy.

But Esso, BP and Tesco petrol forecourts have been impacted by challenges getting petrol deliveries.

BP said that around 20 of its 1,200 petrol forecourts were closed due to a lack of available fuel, with between 50 and 100 sites affected by the loss of at least one grade of fuel.

So he's either quite busy and/or has quite a small tank and/or a very thirsty car


Oh

Anyway, panic buying's not something I would ever do myself

Didn't even think about it when passing the forecourts yesterday

Anyway, good job my Tesla is on order

(By chance had filled my 70l tank early on Thursday just before the news broke )

This in the i is in essence a national version of the above, mainly quoting David Lawrie of the NPHTA:


‘Selfish’ petrol panic buyers are leaving taxi drivers unable to fill up and go to work

https://inews.co.uk/news/petrol-panic-b ... rk-1218339

Vulnerable and elderly people who rely on taxis will be housebound if drivers are unable to work because they can’t get fuel, a taxi chief has warned



This from Essex is about office staff being abused because punters can't get a car, and that's being blamed on drivers running out of fuel:


Petrol station queues: Chelmsford taxi company drivers 'abused' after staff unable to get fuel

https://www.essexlive.news/news/essex-n ... xi-5970001

"Please treat all staff as you wish to be treated"

It's a pain, but it's a pain that will be sorted in the next few days.

All those that have filled up unnecessarily will not need to fill up again for a month.

So don't panic folks.

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IDFIMH

Not much new here other than that a firm said the shortage was affecting its service, although that was on Saturday. Rest of the article is stuff we all know already.

My advice is to head across to Stamford, because there's a glut of fuel there


Peterborough petrol: Taxi firm hurting because of 'unnecessary panic buying'

https://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/news/l ... g-21688911

The government has asked motorists to stop panic buying fuel


This one from Lincoln highlights a firm (A2B Cars) saying that the trade should be prioritised for fuel. Although A2B and Direct Cars don't seem to have been affected other than having to hunt around a bit. Another firm quoted don't seem to have had any issues at all:



Lincolnshire taxi firm owner's warning if fuel crisis continues

https://www.lincolnshirelive.co.uk/news ... ng-5977309

Some petrol stations have imposed a £30 limit

Local petrol stations are having NHS filling up only times in the morning, which I think is a good move.

Think things are getting better as I was only in a queue for about 10 minutes today, although some of the troops waiting ages elsewhere.

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IDFIMH

Taxis will be well down the priority list if it comes to fuel rationing if measures are taken you can bet it will be NHS, Police and fire plus local government workers

Personally i have just managed to fill up at the independent who got his second tanker in 2 days this morning so have a full tank but getting home was a nightmare as the petrol station near to me also had a tanker today and the queues were blocking the former A1 with the girls out on the forecourt not achieving much but to be fair it is a smaller forecourt

Shell still haven't had a tanker even though they have had no fuel delivery now for 12 days ! In the days when it was BP it used to get at least one a week but now it is shell is often out of fuel for days on end even before the panic buying started

But it has to be said the queues are not going down and most people were buying less than £20 worth as far as I could tell

here's hoping Morrisons and shell get some soon or the pumps could be dry tomorrow

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lack of modern legislation is the iceberg sinking the titanic of the transport sector

So is your tank half full, or half empty?

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Former taxi driver

Guess

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lack of modern legislation is the iceberg sinking the titanic of the transport sector

Edders, why local government workers when the majority are still working from home?

because that's what happened in 2000

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lack of modern legislation is the iceberg sinking the titanic of the transport sector

There was a fuel shortage not that long ago, only 3 or 4 years ago and I went to our local Tesco store and the manager told me that they were on the government list for essential users which meant that when they were down to their last 5000 litres they had to shut for general use and they had a list of essential types of business that could still fill up and Taxis and Private hire were on the list so I was able to fill up.

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Grandad,

But, Grandad, if the priority list is like it was back in 2000 then you wouldn't be eligible

Neither would Sussex

Anyway, as my tank was more or less full anyway, I haven't tried to fuel up since it all kicked off. Normally try to use Shell, and normally fill the tank when I'm in Dundee, which can be up to 7p/litre less than St Andrews, so about a £5 saving for a tankful

So approached the Shell station about 1830, and it's on the inner ring road right beside Dundee city centre.

Drove straight in, half the pumps were free, no sign of any restrictions. All seemed totally normal, in fact seemed a tad quieter than would expect at that time in the evening

(Only difference was it was 2p per litre dearer than it's been for the previous couple of weeks or so, but I can live with that.)

So that's the tank full again, thus hopefully it'll all be sorted out again by the time I need any more.

So not sure if there's been any real crisis here, although I know Shell in St Andrews had run out on Sunday, and there was talk of rationing in a Courier article, but that was just a handful of stations, and haven't seen anything else on local news sites.

My neighbour manages the Shell garage, but haven't seen him, and to be honest I often try to avoid issues like that unless things are really desperate, because it might just stress me out over nothing. Ditto talking to other taxi drivers about stuff like that, but I'm not aware of any real issues.

Anyway, for anyone having problems, hopefully it'll all be over soon

And do you think the average forecourt person knows the difference between Hackney Carriages and Private Hire?

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Grandad,