Shortages of fuel and food stuffs

[hifimad]

Its hilarious, the government are going to introduce special visas to EU foreign lorry drivers to come to britain to alleviate our delivery problems, so much for brexit being good for britain can anyone out there tell me what brexit benefits we have had so far, the yanks have told us there will not be a trade deal, we are now begging EU nationals to come into the country to deliver our stuff, our fishermen are having problems exporting their fish into Europe, we are unable to take meat products into Northen Ireland, inflation is rising, what is even more amusing is that one of the forums members ( i cant remember who) said that having less foreign lorry drivers on our roads would be a good thing, as far as i can see there has been only drawbacks to brexit with no upsides.

[Alsatian]

I think it's already been said many times, the people that voted for Brexit did so, thinking that we'd reclaim our borders and stop the illegal immigrants....... wrong!

In a Utopian society I'd have voted yes - BUT - we don't live in such a society and we've become to heavily reliant on foreign countries for our manufacturing, farming, fuel etc etc etc.

Think back 50 years and who can remember all the manufacturing/engineering companies we used to have in Chesterfield. Where are they now?

Much of the younger element nowadays want to pick and choose their jobs, in the knowledge that, if they don't work, the government will give them a handout.

So yes, it'd be nice to be able to put the 'Great' back into Britain and regain our industrial independence, but sadly that will never happen.

[Sorastro]

 I suspect that may have been me........

Mainly because I don't {and never have} trusted foreign lorry drivers on our roads. Grant Shapps has already set a president by increasing British H.G.V. drivers hours so if you transfer that to foreign lorry drivers over here who will drive far longer than they already do, as they fiddle their driving hours, it's going to lead to carnage on our roads {as if we haven't enough already}.

Foreign lorry drivers will bring bigger lorries, longer working hours and more dangerously less experience, as I don't believe their H.G.V. tests are as stringent as ours. 
Shapps also mentioned that hundreds of drivers here that are being trained up as H.G.V. drivers to fill the vacancies, apart from the fact we need them now {not in a few weeks time} he is automatically assuming that EVERY driver taking these H.G.V. tests will pass!!
Plus now that H.G.V. drivers are finally being recognised for the invaluable contribution they make and their wages will go up and their working conditions will improve what will happen to the smaller haulage firms with say about a dozen lorries, their drivers are more than likely going to be "poached" by bigger companies that can offer the above possibly leaving the smaller firms to go to the wall.

If the Tory party had sorted Brexit out more or less after the vote, instead of wasting at least 3 years we would have perhaps been a little bit more organised than we were when the pandemic hit.

Lastly..... The pandemic has been a major contributor to this shortage of drivers so you have to ask yourselves one question:-

"If the H.G.V. driver shortage is Europe wide {which it is} where are these foreign drivers going to come from??"

[hifimad]

the three times i can remember problems on the road with lorry drivers were on driving back from yarmouth in the rain with warning signs of slippy roads i had a lorry tailgating me for miles a lady driver in front of me stopped ahead of me to read a map and the bernard mathews lorry started flashing lights and using his horn as i slowed down before i overtook her i held my phone out of the window as i had instructed my son to call the police if the driver continued tailgating  and he took the hint and pulled back.
In june of this year i was returning from skegness ann the stretch of the A1 and as it was raining and i was holding around 50mph and a lorry behind me started flashing his lights at me and tailgating me ecpectingme to speed uprather than him overtaking me.
On another occasion i was driving from bogner to western super mare on a dual cariageway and a lorry which was overtaking me decided to pull in while i was next to his trailer forcing me onto the grass verge.
More recently i was travelling behind a lorry on coniston road and as i came to the junction opposite the dunston pub the lorry carried straight towards the pub and blocked traffic from the left and right of dunston lane and put on his hazard lights i wanted to go left so as i stayed behind the lorry the driver got out and said rudely did i not see his hazards and that meant he wanted to reverse to park up so i should go on my way but turning right i told him i was not going to take shouted instructions from him and i would go when i was good and ready he told me to go now so i told him to go away and urinate.
All four lorries had one common thread they were all british registered lorries, also it is a long time since i read the highway code but i am sure it does not say that turning on hazard lights means you are entitled to block the road prior to reversing to park. so i think that lorrie drivers of any nationality have both good and bad drivers.

[Sorastro]

An apparent update on driver training...

It is alleged:-
Because of the driver shortage {and the governments prior insistence it didn't exist} in the possible months that follow British drivers wanting to pass from rigid vehicles to driving "artics" will have a much easier "test" than their predecessors did.
A good part of the artic test will now be done on paper {overseen by a trainer} instead of actually seeing if the driver is physically capable of handling an artic in ALL scenarios. Apparently one of those tests will be the S shaped parking skill, to my mind one of the most important of skills for an artic driver, this will be passed/failed at the discretion of the trainer in short on paper!
These "fast track"  tests are to push through more H.G.V. drivers in the shortest possible time and because of the trainers discretion this could cause some things to slide leading to my " Foreign drivers on our roads" remark to become true of British drivers.

And apparently it would seem that this might have something to do with the bus driver shortage as, it appears, some drivers are quitting the buses and turning over to driving trucks for a living as the truck driver shortages have boosted the wages and bonuses in that industry.
Well at least they will only have to transport cargo, instead of the moaning flotsam and jetsom they have to endure on a daily basis on the buses.

 

[hifimad]

Am i to take it that people who cannot afford a car or are unable to drive due to to old age infirmaty or disability, and as a result can only get around by using the overpriced public transport system are to now be labelled as flotsom and jetsom?.

[Sorastro]

 As you seem to be taking the discussion on this particular subject to it's 'enth degree, I respectfully suggest you re-read the bottom line of my last post again.

Having been a bus user for more years than I care to remember, believe me the words I used to describe certain members of the populous that ride the buses as flotsam and jetsom are mild in comparison to what I would like to call them. For those who use and abuse the transport system usually on a daily basis are numerous, it was you who just picked two "examples" of the vast multitudes who use the buses.
This subject has been mentioned on more than one occasion in posts on this site and I had used those very words, and from starting to post on here till posting now I have always chosen my words carefully {and proof read same} before I consign them to print.

 Don't just take my word for it, there is at least one bus driver on this site..............ask him!

[hifimad]

having worked in service industries for the latter part of my working life including having to go into peoples homes to repair tvs vcrs sat recievers i can definitely say that a small number of customers could be challenging however from a customer service perspective i would not used the words you used to describe paying customers.
Iwill also point out that the behaviour of a number of bus drivers leave a lot to be desired, from indicating and imediately pulling out into traffic, just this week one bus driver went straight through a red light on a pedestrian crossing outside avenue house surgery, pulling up on codwell ave leaving the back end sticking out and blocking traffic when there is enough room to pull in, also speeding up the wrong side of the road as they had to overtake a vehicle though said vehicle is 200 yards away, also i was on peak bus when a bus driver for chesterfield omnibus purposely crashed into the rear lights of one of the peak buses to force them into taking it off the road, then there are the surly drivers who give the impression that picking up passangers is a pain and i still have not got round to bus drivers showing total contempt for certain people who pay their wages by moaning about them and  calling them flotsam and jetsom on a local forum, a real credit to the profession i am sure.

[Old Cruser]

On Monday I needed fuel. This was my first attempt since the err 'shortage' I had no problems at all pre lunch time.
On Tuesday I passed Clay Cross Tesco service station post lunch time and it was closed - pumps empty.
It seems to be pot luck at the moment.

[Fly]

I give up. I really do.
10 max people use this forum and  one of wants an argument 

[Old Cruser]

I give up. I really do.
10 max people use this forum and  one of wants an argument 

Calm Fly Calm - heated debate is a better word 

[hifimad]

i do not see an argument or a heated debate i just see a difference of opinion

[Sorastro]

Somewhere out in the stratosphere there's a "conspiracy theory" circling about the fuel shortage {and why wouldn't there be?}

It claims.....
 The fuel shortage is a myth perpetuated by possibly the fuel conglomerates as it appears fuel, be it petrol or diesel, has a "shelf" life of perhaps no more than 6 to 8 months, and as lock down over the past year to eighteen months has radically curtailed free movement of the vast majority of the populous, here and worldwide, the fuel has not been bought in the quantities it usually is, hence petrol stations ending up with next to useless fuel in their tanks and they need to shift it pronto. 
Answer.... create a stampede....how? "There's a fuel shortage" and bingo that your tanks empty.

On the face of it it doesn't sound that far fetched when you think about it.

Just start a rumour about something and it will sell itself.......just look at Arkwright with his surplus stock of ginger cake!!!

[Alsatian]

Fuel does have a 'shelf life' insofar as it is similar to brake fluid and is hygrisopic (absorbs water).

Now they've come up with E10 it will absorb water even more readily.

The problem is that water will create condensation. Under normal condition this isn't that much of a problem, as fuel is used and the replenished with fresh fuel.
The problem occurs when fuel stays in the tank and condensation happens on the same fuel, this leads to rust forming in the fuel tank and then the subsequent rust particles travelling along the fuel lines, blocking the filter, and finding its way into the engine via the injectors. Result: bu88ered engine.

Not ideal! However you can get a 'fuel stabiliser' (do a search for 'Wynns fuel stabiliser) that, when added to (ideally) a full tank of fuel, will prevent condensation forming.

I did this to mine and my daughters car during the first lockdown.

[Alsatian]

Fuel does have a 'shelf life' insofar as it is similar to brake fluid and is hygrosopic (absorbs water).

Now they've come up with E10 it will absorb water even more readily.

The problem is that water will create condensation. Under normal condition this isn't that much of a problem, as fuel is used and then replenished with fresh fuel.
The problem occurs when fuel stays in the tank and condensation happens on the same fuel, this leads to rust forming in the fuel tank and the subsequent rust particles travel along the fuel lines, blocking the fuel filter, and finding its way into the engine via the injectors. Result: bu88ered engine.

Not ideal! However you can get a 'fuel stabiliser' (do a search for 'Wynns' fuel stabiliser) that, when added to (ideally) a full tank of fuel, will prevent condensation forming.

I did this to mine and my daughters car during the first lockdown.