Fuel....Tankers...Public

[tomo9945]

So, a tanker driver feels that 45k a year is not enough, or the working conditions are a bit difficult at the moment...

That argument aside, they haven't actually gone on strike yet have they? No, and if they do at all, it will be for probably a 24 hour period over the Easter weekend.

Therefore, I would like to extend a special thanks to every dim witted motorist who felt the need to panic buy fuel today, when they didn't need any fuel at all and empty the petrol stations long before they even go out on strike or even announce a date. To all those queuing out of the forecourts in Canterbury today, well done.

An extra special thanks goes to the drivers I saw at Wingham though, when I needed to fill up as my gauge was on empty. So to the Transit van driver filling up half a dozen jerry cans, was it really necessary? Or indeed the old chap in front of me, paying for a whole £12 worth of diesel, yes £12!

If everyone kept on buying as usual, then there wouldn't be a crisis, and it only serves to further illustrate how thin a line there is between law and order and total anarchy.

Rant over!

[Tigger25]

Totally agree, the media put the wind up everybody and that's why they panic buy. I filled up yesterday for the first time in 4 weeks, and I had been away for the weekend and it cost me £60 and I was just down to the red, but being back to work next week it was a necessity.

[FUBAR]

That's why they only do a 24 hour strike. The desired effect has been achieved it seems. I know of plenty of tanker jobs only paying just over minimum wage so don't believe the stupid 45K claims in media. 4 of my friends have been laid off from shell and they didn't earn that much doing forecourt deliveries. Airports only pay around 25K now for refuelling aircraft. Its a specialised job and has considerable responsibilities and risks associated to it that most people wouldn't even think of.

[Robshaw]

It's the media.

Smoke and Mirrors.

End.

[tomo9945]

That's why they only do a 24 hour strike. The desired effect has been achieved it seems. I know of plenty of tanker jobs only paying just over minimum wage so don't believe the stupid 45K claims in media. 4 of my friends have been laid off from shell and they didn't earn that much doing forecourt deliveries. Airports only pay around 25K now for refuelling aircraft. Its a specialised job and has considerable responsibilities and risks associated to it that most people wouldn't even think of.

I don't disagree, there is always two sides to everything and I don't doubt they have responsibilities. However, that's an argument aside from my point though, it's the panic buying public that irritate me!

[XLBaconDoubleCheese]

Minimum wage my arse. One of the blokes that works with me use to do it, ok so it was 4 years ago he started but he still took a wage drop to do bus driving which at the time was £9+ an hour! I also dont buy the "dangerous cargo" & lots of responsibility crap, if your paid to drive a car, van, lorry, tanker or bus, your paid to drive it as professionally and responsibly.

[Volvomeg]

Me and swmbo are away in north wales for a few days near conway and i struggled to get any fuel today, 3 shell garages locally have no diesel and sod all petrol.

Think its daft people brimming tanks when they dont really need it

[FUBAR]

Minimum wage my arse. One of the blokes that works with me use to do it, ok so it was 4 years ago he started but he still took a wage drop to do bus driving which at the time was £9+ an hour!

Why did he leave a 45K job for a less than 20k job having to get abuse from random members of public?

I also dont buy the "dangerous cargo" & lots of responsibility crap, if your paid to drive a car, van, lorry, tanker or bus, your paid to drive it as professionally and responsibly.

To drive as you call it "dangerous cargo" you need to be trained and qualified to do so and it is not cheap I can tell you as i've been doing it for 10 years. Tankers specifically are a pain in the hole as its not like driving a lorry full of fluffy light pillows or tins of baked beans, you can have 30 tons of a highly flammable liquid in back and its a lot to pull then you have the extra braking distance and fact its a live load therefore moves around can't brake hard can't swerve have to plan ahead a lot further than most need to. Then there is the mountain of paperwork involved and the risk of static electricity being produced when its sloshing about and loading and unloading it. Big difference driving something that if you mess up or don't allow for others stupidity could end up sending a giant fire ball up and down the motorway. When you take out life insurance it also makes a difference.

To get yourself on the road to do these sorts of jobs with cost of licence/ADR/CPC you will need a good £5000 before you can even apply for a job with no experience so will end up getting minimum wage for years to apply for the few good paying ones. It's a competitive industry that you work for YEARS to get into and have to fight for the jobs it works well in the safety aspect as companies get to select the best most experienced professional drivers for it and that's something to everyone's benefit on the roads.

Cutting salary, pensions, increasing work load and reducing hours to do it in...... soon as first tanker goes over by driver being pushed too far and the potential number of funerals that could come as a result would be late to take action. They are not looking for a pay rise but to not let stupid companies mess them and everyone else around.

I have done a lot of this sort of work biggest name BP (I have crossed picket lines too). (45K my arse!) media should catch a grip.

anyways back to topic properly panic buying lololololol a short strike doesn't mean anything at all most forecourts don't even take weekly deliveries so its all utterly pointless will just generate overtime for driver (woohoo)

[XLBaconDoubleCheese]

Why did he leave a 45K job for a less than 20k job having to get abuse from random members of public?

Spend more time with his family iirc, paid his mortgage off and wanted to work closer to home, less hours etc.

[XLBaconDoubleCheese]

To drive as you call it "dangerous cargo" you need to be trained and qualified to do so and it is not cheap I can tell you as i've been doing it for 10 years. Tankers specifically are a pain in the hole as its not like driving a lorry full of fluffy light pillows or tins of baked beans, you can have 30 tons of a highly flammable liquid in back and its a lot to pull then you have the extra braking distance and fact its a live load therefore moves around can't brake hard can't swerve have to plan ahead a lot further than most need to. Then there is the mountain of paperwork involved and the risk of static electricity being produced when its sloshing about and loading and unloading it. Big difference driving something that if you mess up or don't allow for others stupidity could end up sending a giant fire ball up and down the motorway. When you take out life insurance it also makes a difference.

All for minimum wage? :think: I`m not doubting the skill needed to drive them, but you need skill to drive a lorry full of baked beans or a bus full of old biddies. You need ££££ to get a licence to drive them too, and equally you can hurt lots of people if your a bellend behind the wheel.

[FUBAR]

All for minimum wage? :think: I`m not doubting the skill needed to drive them, but you need skill to drive a lorry full of baked beans or a bus full of old biddies. You need ££££ to get a licence to drive them too, and equally you can hurt lots of people if your a bellend behind the wheel.

You should have quoted what I said after the part you quoted lol My point being you need same licence and then experience at driving normal loads then further training and qualifications THEN can look at tankers all at additional cost and time. Get on job ads online and find me some 45K job adverts for drivers in UK I am approaching end of contract and looking for a new job and its not proving easy to match my current salary and I am prepared to relocate to anywhere in UK.

To get yourself on the road to do these sorts of jobs with cost of licence/ADR/CPC you will need a good £5000 before you can even apply for a job with no experience

Lorry of beans crashes = beans everywhere possible crushing of cars and pile up from poor reactions of drivers behind. Tanker possible fireball 100-300 meters in a big circle around it plus the crushing and pile up but minus the beans . Or if a major spill of fuel and it goes into water course you could cause detestation to local wildlife, regions water supplies, fish stocks etc etc etc

Additionally not many people hijack lorries full of baked beans and tend to opt for high value loads this often results in a stay in hospital if your lucky.

[Jim H]

I'm guessing, yesterday the Shell garage in my town running out of normal fuel was pure coincidence (only had V-Power).

BTW, I hope the strike is not over Easter and the country runs out of fuel (panic buying) as I've just booked to go to Dover for a few days.

[national]

The fact many have panic purchased means they will not have need to refill for a while

In this time the petrol stations have had new deliveries to re stock before any strike action

So no problemo

Everyones tank is full, as is the petrol stations

Lurv panic buyers

Now if they had NOT panic purchased then cars would be empty, petrol stations would have run out and no tanker to refill

equals tanker drivers bargaining power

National

[sharkrider]

I pesonally hope they run out, then I will be stuck in a lodge on the beach near weston super mare for the meet this weekend,(I'm staying the week) and be unable to come back up here for work! lol....

on a serious note. I don't know how much they earn. but if it is £45 k, they should be very happy with it. I work on an emergancy ambulance (lots of skill required to drive fast on blue lights in large vehicals, and massive responsibility with peoples lives) and I get paid less than half of that!

[mannyo]

I'm guessing, yesterday the Shell garage in my town running out of normal fuel was pure coincidence (only had V-Power).

Are you sure its run out, it may just be a ploy to get you to not panic buy fuel so that they still have fuel when nobody else does. They then bump the price accordingly and make a big profit. Happened back in 2000, and will happen again.

[Aspman]

Are they only striking down south?

No panic buying up here. Got fuel no problem last night (other than 141.9p for feckin super).

[Gwilo]

So as the daily mail,BBC and every news and media outlet continues to cry "buy petrol and diesel now or you and your children will die penniless in the gutter", I find myself thinking sanity has left the country.

1. No strike date has been given. By law, they have to give a minimum seven days notice, and state explicitly which dates and for how long.

2. The ballot has now closed, so again, in law the strike has to be declared some time in the next four weeks, with the legal notice periods in place. it is also a total farce that a strike can be declared legal and valid when it was only 48% of the actual total number of drivers because 12% didn't bother to vote. Tail wagging the dog if you ask me.

3. Unite can dress this up however they like - pushing Health and safety concerns is a great way to create fear and panic. Reality check - they drive HGVs, which mean they are subject to the current laws on driving hours, the HGVs are already speed restricted and at the end of the day, in case of any accident - which by it's very definition is an ACCIDENT....no amount of training can prevent ACCIDENTS, only carelessness. I'm fairly sure that driving a few thousand litres of fuel will concentrate the mind of anyone.

4. Pension provisions - deal with it, everyone who isn't a high flying banker or director earning megabucks is facing changes to their pension provision.

5. Three and five year contracts and they're complaining that it used to be ten year contracts? That's for the delivery firm to supply, not the driver, so it's utter chuff for this to be trotted out. Besides, how many of us are on definite contracts of set lengths like that? Even non-contract, permanent staff can be made redundant with a letter from HR and a notice period.

I'm not going to panic buy, but I am aware of the painful fact that I need to fill up every sunday in order to get to and from work and public transport options are punitively expensive and detrimental to my personal life - i really don't want to spend 17 hours a day travelling and working.

I've had two phone calls, one from Blackpool and one From manchester telling me to fill up as the queues are ridiculous and the stations are running out of fuel.....until the strike happens, stations will still get deliveries!

I wouldn't mind, but from Blackpool and St Annes it's all a bunch of coffin dodgers who hardly use fuel in the first place.

Ultimately, the public don't seem to have much sympathy, but it's the old dinosaurs the likes of mcCluskey and Crow that are doing more to damage infrastructure and public support for their industrys and members all in a effort to maintain their own gilded existences in seats of power.

[Coops]

Fair comments Gwilo - just to pick up on a few:

2. The ballot has now closed, so again, in law the strike has to be declared some time in the next four weeks, with the legal notice periods in place. it is also a total farce that a strike can be declared legal and valid when it was only 48% of the actual total number of drivers because 12% didn't bother to vote. Tail wagging the dog if you ask me.

This will be union leaders dressing it up to their members, winding them up to point where they have no choice but to vote for strike action. To be fair on DHL and Sucklings thy must be telling their guys something different.

3. Unite can dress this up however they like - pushing Health and safety concerns is a great way to create fear and panic. Reality check - they drive HGVs, which mean they are subject to the current laws on driving hours, the HGVs are already speed restricted and at the end of the day, in case of any accident - which by it's very definition is an ACCIDENT....no amount of training can prevent ACCIDENTS, only carelessness. I'm fairly sure that driving a few thousand litres of fuel will concentrate the mind of anyone.

I agree with this but as with the "blame culture" an investigation will have to lead to either someone, something or a process being at fault.

5. Three and five year contracts and they're complaining that it used to be ten year contracts? That's for the delivery firm to supply, not the driver, so it's utter chuff for this to be trotted out. Besides, how many of us are on definite contracts of set lengths like that? Even non-contract, permanent staff can be made redundant with a letter from HR and a notice period.

Totally agree, supply contracts are reducing all the time, we find it very rare to sign a new logistics contract beyond 5 years, 3 is generally the norm. This goes with the territory of the industry and besides the by, the employees will be covered by TUPE regulations anyway.

I am fearful that I need to fill up soon (because my tank will be empty!) and the queues will be stupid!

[mdon]

2. The ballot has now closed, so again, in law the strike has to be declared some time in the next four weeks, with the legal notice periods in place. it is also a total farce that a strike can be declared legal and valid when it was only 48% of the actual total number of drivers because 12% didn't bother to vote. Tail wagging the dog if you ask me.

3. Unite can dress this up however they like - pushing Health and safety concerns is a great way to create fear and panic. Reality check - they drive HGVs, which mean they are subject to the current laws on driving hours, the HGVs are already speed restricted and at the end of the day, in case of any accident - which by it's very definition is an ACCIDENT....no amount of training can prevent ACCIDENTS, only carelessness.

It's a total farce that the Tories are in charge then as not everyone voted in the general election!?

And actually they are called road traffic collisions as there is always someone at fault and pushing them to make more deliveries in less time could result in more COLLISIONS.

[mdon]

Totally agree, supply contracts are reducing all the time, we find it very rare to sign a new logistics contract beyond 5 years, 3 is generally the norm. This goes with the territory of the industry and besides the by, the employees will be covered by TUPE regulations anyway.

I don't understand this also as they will recieve redundancy payments at the end of the 3 or 5 years this that will be incentive for the company to keep them on to avoid paying these costs.

[Coops]

I don't understand this also as they will recieve redundancy payments at the end of the 3 or 5 years this that will be incentive for the company to keep them on to avoid paying these costs.

Depends on the "new" solution which the next service provider puts in. If it's like for like then the employees will merely transfer from company A to company B on their existing terms and conditions.

You wouldn't keep someone on to avoid redundancy costs.

[tomo9945]

And if it wasn't bad enough, I read on the news that the PM and the Cabinet Secretary have advised topping up and keeping some jerry cans of fuel in your garage! I despair!

[mdon]

Depends on the "new" solution which the next service provider puts in. If it's like for like then the employees will merely transfer from company A to company B on their existing terms and conditions.

You wouldn't keep someone on to avoid redundancy costs.

You would if the job still exists, which obviously it does it they are being TUPE'd.

[DSS199]

All my local stations already empty...... idiots.

[merseadog]

In the next week I need to get a fivers worth in a can for my mower. i will feel people looking at me and thinking idiot!