Queuing in the Orrell Esso garage
Some workshops had to turn away drivers because they ran out of fuel – because of the additional habit and also the root of the original problem: lack of truck drivers.
The transport minister tried to discourage motorists from buying gasoline in a hurry after BP was forced to close a handful of its forecourt.
Grant Shapps said on Friday that drivers should “keep driving as usual”.
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Queues formed outside some gas stations in the UK on Friday morning.
This picture was taken at the Esso petrol station on Up Holland Road, Orrell.
In Wigan’s Tesco Extra store, the gas station there ran out of diesel and employees stood at the entrance advising motorists with diesel cars to find alternative gas stations.
High-level ministers should meet on Friday afternoon to discuss possible solutions to the truck driver shortage.
On Friday, BP announced that around 20 of its 1,200 gas stations have been closed for lack of fuel, with between 50 and 100 locations being affected by the loss of at least one type of fuel.
A “small number” of Tesco gas stations is also affected, said the Esso owner ExxonMobil, which operates the sites.
He said: “As of last night, five out of 12 or 13 hundred petrol stations in the BP network were affected.
“I’m meeting with Tesco this morning and I’m sure they will give me the update for themselves.
“None of the other retailers reported there were closings.”
He added, “The others, Asda, Morrisons and other supermarkets, say they have no problems, as do other gas stations.”
On the BBC’s Today program, Mr Shapps pledged to do everything possible to make sure the gasoline gets to the drivers.
“I will move heaven and earth to do whatever it takes to make sure trucks carry our goods and services and gasoline across the country,” he said.
He denied that Brexit was responsible for the recent shortage of truck drivers in the UK, arguing that secession from the European Union helped the government respond.
“In other EU countries such as Poland and Germany there are not only very large and even greater bottlenecks that clearly cannot have anything to do with Brexit, but in fact through Brexit I was able to change the law and the way in which our driving tests work in a way that I couldn’t have done if we were still part of the EU, ”he said.
“So Brexit actually provided part of the solution of making more slots available for truck testing (heavy duty vehicles) and there are now many more, twice as many tests available than before the pandemic, a large part of the ones that do we “We were only able to do that because we are no longer in the EU.”
At a meeting a week ago, BP reportedly told the government that the company was having trouble getting fuel to its forecourt.
His UK retail manager Hanna Hofer described the situation as “bad, very bad,” according to a report by ITV News.
BP has “two-thirds of the normal inventory at the gas stations that is necessary for proper operation,” she said, adding that the level is “decreasing rapidly”.
The AA has said that most of the UK’s forecourts are functioning properly amid concerns over gasoline supply concerns in some locations.
“There is no shortage of fuel and thousands of gas stations are functioning normally, with few experiencing temporary supply chain problems,” said AA President Edmund King.
“Fridays and weekends are always busier in the forecourt, as the drivers either combine refueling with shopping trips, prepare for weekend trips or refuel before the new work week starts.
“Drivers shouldn’t refuel outside of their normal routine because even if an occasional gas station is temporarily closed, others near the road will be open.
“It is now clear that there have been isolated delays in the last few weeks that hardly anyone noticed. That was a manageable problem. “
On Thursday, Rod McKenzie of the Road Haulage Association said the government had allowed the driver shortage to “worsen” over the past few months.
“We have a shortage of 100,000 (drivers),” he told BBC Newsnight.
“When you consider that everything we get in the UK is carried in the back of a truck, be it fuel, food or clothing or whatever, if at some point there are no drivers to drive those trucks, the trucks will move no more and we don’t get our things. “
He added, “I don’t think we’re talking about absolutely no fuel or food or anything like that. People shouldn’t panic buying food or fuel or anything, that’s not what this is about.
“This is about warehouse failures, bottlenecks, it is about the disruption of a normal supply chain.”
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