This diesel shortage then

[RichC4]

What's the turkey panic? Not enough for Christmas?

 

[Tractionman]

Not enough hgv delivery drivers to get them to the shops if it carries on, if now is anything to go by I would think.
HGV drivers come in different breeds, some like tramping and away, others multidrop and home, or just day work on anything, any presumed influx of said drivers won't necessarily fill all vacancies across the board.
An hgv driver is not an hgv driver, if you get my drift, each have their own preferences.

 

[GeekOKent]

Never a better time to go vegetarian.

 

[Tractionman]

Can we get veg to the shops quicker, ? On my way. Crap ! Got no diesel.

 

[Tractionman]

Just found out, a BBC correspondent reporting from a petrol station, goes by the name of......
Phil McCann.

 

[Towpack]

What's the turkey panic? Not enough for Christmas?

I think the (potential) Turkey crisis was linked to the CO2 problem which should ease now after the Gov bailed out one of the main producers. Still a problem if they can't be delivered to shops mind you.

 

[flint]

Turkey imports from France likely to increase due to labour shortages, Kelly Turkeys warns - Poultry News

www.poultrynews.co.uk

 

[stuzbot]

Anecdotal. But I went to pick up a van yesterday and stopped for diesel on the way back. It may have just been because it was the last filling station before the motorway, but it was queued right out onto the road. It seemed to be petrol that was in short supply though. All the diesel pumps were on, but most of the petrol ones had those yellow 'Out of Order' covers on them.

In related news; while I was in the van place, collecting the van, one of the guys who worked there was watching the news and said "Eighty grand they're offering for HGV drivers now"

Bloody tempting if that were true. Even though it must be a tedious job and completely ruinous for your health. If you could stick it for 2 or 3 years at that kind of money, you could buy a house with the proceeds.

[or put a deposit on an 80 Series]

 

[Tractionman]

That figure almost makes me want to come out of retirement, and get a decent nights sleep in a truck.

 

[Juddian]

Please don't believe the hype, drivers arn't being paid £80k, if they were you'd be fighting off well qualified bods with 30+ years experience and perfect resumes desperate to get their foot in the door and trouser that.

At one time the fuel companies, like the supermarkets and many industries operated their own lorries and employed their own drivers, fuel tanker jobs were literally dead mans shoes jobs.
Then accountants and buy outs came along and they decided the drivers were earning too much, good pensions etc, so most of industry farmed their transport out to sub contrtactors, who could operated more cheaply because basically they paid poorly with sod all pension.

I've seen the shift pattern some of these sub contrcat drivers work (company mentioned in an above post) and its beyond all reason, nights then days then nights again long shifts with barely 2 days if they are lucky in between, and no they ain't earning fantastic wages either, i drive a tanker (not fuel) and there is no way on this earth i'd work the number of hours or the shift pattern those lads do for the pay they get.

Something also isn't right here, how come my company ( i work directly for a manufacturer, not a sub contractor) are able to fulfill all of our delivery slots nationwide satisfying our just in time customers all of the time, yet these subcontractors can't...nope don't believe a word of it.
My suspicion is that this is the next stage in operation fear they started in earnest 18 months ago, something else to panic the people with in order to surrender yet more of your freedoms and possibly to reverse parts of Brexit they didn't like...ie as they are about to do, open the doors to hgv driving immigrants once more, curtail the current re-alignment of salaries.

Much is being spoken about fantastic pay rises drivers are getting, its all headline bullshine. not doubt in due course the drivers will be to blame for the massive inflation thats already started, watch and see.

Where i work we have a proper union and have had pay rises every year in line with inflation/rpi whatever you want to call it, so we won't be getting 30% increase and we aint stupid enough to ask for it.
Some of these drivers getting 30% haven't had a rise for 10 or more years, because their employers have been able to threaten them with being replaced by an east european preapred to work cheaper, and now for several reasons they haven't got thousands of hungry EE lads they don't bloody like it, hence the pressure on the govt (if you can call it that) to open the doors again...they've had to give them in one lump sum what they should have had in inceremental pay rises, what these cheap skate employers really want is to resume the race to the bottom having the back up of thousands of cheap drivers to pull things back, and it looks like they;re going to get it...might not be Polish lads cos they won't work cheap any more and i don't blame 'em, could be from anywhere.

Some EE lads packed it in over IR35, because they would have had to go PAYE and pay proper tax, some have gone into construction etc where there's better pay for shorter hours anyway, some went home because their countries now have shortages of drivers and they are having to up the pay, and its cheaper to live in their home countries than here, there's other reasons too which are probably likely to cause a row, i know what the reasons are because i work with and am friends with enough European National drivers to know the score.

You are being fed yet another line by the govt and media, just like the bloody covid and climate scams.
Just my opinion.

 

[RichC4]

It's not 80 grand once the tax man has rinsed you.

 

[Juddian]

And for anyone thinking of returning to or carrying on work after retirement, from next year you pay national insurance again, another good kick in the bollocks for those (us) poor sods who never managed to get a nice gold plated civil service pension after 35 years of 9 to 5.
Someone who's grafted bloody 60+ hour weeks for 40+ then have to pay for their measly state pension again could get a little cheesed orf.

 

[GeekOKent]

@stuzbot out here in Cambridgeshire no one has diesel, but all the pumps seem to have petrol.

 

[Rob Cowell]

Had to get petrol for the quad bike today. 2 X 20 litre jerry cans. Got some looks.

 

[David]

I will leave this here

 

[Towpack]

Managed to fill the bike up again tonight after a short wait at a BP station in town, they've had a delivery today with all pumps working.

 

[chapel gate]

Please don't believe the hype, drivers arn't being paid £80k, if they were you'd be fighting off well qualified bods with 30+ years experience and perfect resumes desperate to get their foot in the door and trouser that.

At one time the fuel companies, like the supermarkets and many industries operated their own lorries and employed their own drivers, fuel tanker jobs were literally dead mans shoes jobs.
Then accountants and buy outs came along and they decided the drivers were earning too much, good pensions etc, so most of industry farmed their transport out to sub contrtactors, who could operated more cheaply because basically they paid poorly with sod all pension.

I've seen the shift pattern some of these sub contrcat drivers work (company mentioned in an above post) and its beyond all reason, nights then days then nights again long shifts with barely 2 days if they are lucky in between, and no they ain't earning fantastic wages either, i drive a tanker (not fuel) and there is no way on this earth i'd work the number of hours or the shift pattern those lads do for the pay they get.

Something also isn't right here, how come my company ( i work directly for a manufacturer, not a sub contractor) are able to fulfill all of our delivery slots nationwide satisfying our just in time customers all of the time, yet these subcontractors can't...nope don't believe a word of it.
My suspicion is that this is the next stage in operation fear they started in earnest 18 months ago, something else to panic the people with in order to surrender yet more of your freedoms and possibly to reverse parts of Brexit they didn't like...ie as they are about to do, open the doors to hgv driving immigrants once more, curtail the current re-alignment of salaries.

Much is being spoken about fantastic pay rises drivers are getting, its all headline bullshine. not doubt in due course the drivers will be to blame for the massive inflation thats already started, watch and see.

Where i work we have a proper union and have had pay rises every year in line with inflation/rpi whatever you want to call it, so we won't be getting 30% increase and we aint stupid enough to ask for it.
Some of these drivers getting 30% haven't had a rise for 10 or more years, because their employers have been able to threaten them with being replaced by an east european preapred to work cheaper, and now for several reasons they haven't got thousands of hungry EE lads they don't bloody like it, hence the pressure on the govt (if you can call it that) to open the doors again...they've had to give them in one lump sum what they should have had in inceremental pay rises, what these cheap skate employers really want is to resume the race to the bottom having the back up of thousands of cheap drivers to pull things back, and it looks like they;re going to get it...might not be Polish lads cos they won't work cheap any more and i don't blame 'em, could be from anywhere.

Some EE lads packed it in over IR35, because they would have had to go PAYE and pay proper tax, some have gone into construction etc where there's better pay for shorter hours anyway, some went home because their countries now have shortages of drivers and they are having to up the pay, and its cheaper to live in their home countries than here, there's other reasons too which are probably likely to cause a row, i know what the reasons are because i work with and am friends with enough European National drivers to know the score.

You are being fed yet another line by the govt and media, just like the bloody covid and climate scams.
Just my opinion.

its been the same with every other trade.

invest in school leavers and train them up to be brick layers, plasterers, plumbers, etc. (like we used too).

or, bring in ready trained (allegedly) people from abroad who will work longer hours for less in worse conditions.

guess which option the short term thinking, bottom line business, pen pushers opt for?..

 

[Raj]

It's not 80 grand once the tax man has rinsed

When it’s 80K even prices of 80 series goes up . Won’t be much different, no matter how much majority earn, everything goes back into the system and the wheel spins faster. The 1% above the wheel/system will reap more profits. Sometimes it doesn’t feel right but sometimes it feels ok as the more one earns n spends, income of more people around ll rise and it goes on

 

[chadr]

 

[Tractionman]

Previously mentioned.