[Boiler]

Perhaps Kermit the Frog could deliver the petrol

You will get many people say "but the driver shortage is Europe-wide so this has nowt to do with Brexit".

Yesterday I pulled into a filling station to fill the tank (these days I find I can get about 500 miles from a tankfull) and noticed all the diesel nozzles were covered. Cashier said "We've had no diesel deliveries".

Now, I'm led to believe that tanker drivers are certified differently to say, someone with a curtain-side trailer: same goes for loose powders. So the question is this: where have all the tanker drivers suddenly gone? After all, you must need a certain skill set to safely deliver several thousand gallons of highly volatile liquid...? Think about going round a roundabout and all that liquid wanting to keep moving in a different direction.

[Andy McDandy]

Same here yesterday when filling up. Almost. The regular diesel was switched off, but the V-Power super dooper expensive was available. Whether that's because nobody usually buys it, or someone just decided to make a few quid, I don't know.

Meanwhile, Asda and Tesco in Liverpool South are running normally, but big gaps at Tesco in Barrow. Booths*, as ever, full to the brim.

*North western Waitrose equivalent, with much local sourcing.

[Youngian]

A tanker driver on FiveLive explained that you need a Petroleum Driver Passport (PDP) which has to be taken every five years but you have to be working in the sector to take it. As you can earn more with less hassle working for a supermarket, there’s been haemorrhaging for years and no incentives to attract replacements. As usual Brexit isn’t the systemic cause but the kick in the bollocks that takes you down.

[Bones McCoy]

Perhaps Kermit the Frog could deliver the petrol

You will get many people say "but the driver shortage is Europe-wide so this has nowt to do with Brexit".

Yesterday I pulled into a filling station to fill the tank (these days I find I can get about 500 miles from a tankfull) and noticed all the diesel nozzles were covered. Cashier said "We've had no diesel deliveries".

Now, I'm led to believe that tanker drivers are certified differently to say, someone with a curtain-side trailer: same goes for loose powders. So the question is this: where have all the tanker drivers suddenly gone? After all, you must need a certain skill set to safely deliver several thousand gallons of highly volatile liquid...? Think about going round a roundabout and all that liquid wanting to keep moving in a different direction.

Sorry to hijack, but you got me thinking there, the free surface effect... Liquid sloshing about in a partially filled container.
Very dangerous on ships, where the problem is addressed through compartmentalisation and counter-flooding.
I wonder whether the tank on the back of the lorry is also compartmentlised.

[Boiler]

I'm fairly sure they're baffled: I think even steam locomotive tenders are too.

[Cyclist]

What happens when tanks aren't baffled

The Sevenoaks railway accident occurred on 24 August 1927 between Dunton Green railway station and Sevenoaks railway station. The Southern Railway's afternoon express from Cannon Street to Deal left London at 5pm, hauled by River Class tank engine No 800 River Cray. Several passengers later recounted that from time to time the train seemed to roll excessively on fast curves. As it passed through Pollhill Tunnel at 60 mph the rocking became violent and the train derailed past Dunton Green railway station. Unfortunately, the line at that point is in a cutting which is spanned by a bridge carrying Shoreham Lane. The cab of the locomotive struck the bridge and the engine was turned on its side across the cutting. The leading coaches piled up against it, killing 13 and injuring many more. Railway engineer Brigadier-General Archibald Jack was a survivor of the crash.

John Wallace Pringle, Chief Inspecting Officer of Her Majesty's Railway Inspectorate conducted the inquiry in person.[1] Following the accident, the Southern Railway withdrew all the remaining 'River' class tank engines, which caused a public sensation at the time. Other drivers testified about the instability of the class and it emerged that one locomotive had previously derailed at speed, though it had miraculously re-railed itself. The engines' high centre of gravity, their hard springing, and the tendency for the water in the side tanks to surge, all caused the engines to roll dangerously at speed, so much so that in this accident the nearside wheels had lifted.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sevenoaks ... y_accident

[Malcolm Armsteen]

They were handsome beasts, and not the typical 'Thomas' tank engine...

[Cyclist]

And after the Sevenoaks crash they were all rebuilt as 2-6-0s

[Malcolm Armsteen]

I'm not a fan of Maunsell locomotives. I think it's the parallel boilers. Graceless.

But it could be done

[Bones McCoy]

I'm fairly sure they're baffled: I think even steam locomotive tenders are too.

Thanks, appreciate the clarification.

[Malcolm Armsteen]

The accident was caused by poorly-laid, light track, plus the high centre of gravity of the boiler, added to flexing caused by attempts to lighten the weight of the frames. On other lines, such as the LBSCR and (tested) on the LMS they were fine.

And if that's not a metaphor for Brexit nothing is...

[Tubby Isaacs]

I wonder if the government still thinks it was so clever to try and hide Brexit damage behind Covid. They're getting away for it for now, but there's likely a fair bit of business investment not happening. Not going to help wages in 2024.

[satnav]

If Twitter is to be believed the fuel shortages are all the fault of #scummedia. I wonder if that is the same scum media which convinced millions of people to vote Leave?

[The All New KevS]

I see we might be going grovelling to HGV drivers in the EU to help us out, despite us treating them and their families like dirt.

So, er, what happens when they tell us to get stuffed?

[Bones McCoy]

I see we might be going grovelling to HGV drivers in the EU to help us out, despite us treating them and their families like dirt.

So, er, what happens when they tell us to get stuffed?

If, as some claim, there's a continent wide driver shortage - there's going to be a bidding war.
If, as others believe, this is a Brexit exclusive - there's going to be a bidding war.

[kreuzberger]

If, as some claim, there's a continent wide driver shortage - there's going to be a bidding war.
If, as others believe, this is a Brexit exclusive - there's going to be a bidding war.

As always, the picture is nuanced. Yes, there are plenty of vacancies right across the EU for qualified delivery folk but that is different from actual shortages which, by definition, means that the system can't run as intended, let alone optimally.

Throughout the EU, there has been double-digit growth in online sales since Covid hit, especially in the little-and-often groceries and hot food sectors. Someone has to deliver that. The growth in personal/household savings has also fuelled the online furniture market - big stuff and someone has to deliver that, too. Then there are housing starts which are now roaring back before the cheap credit markets tighten as forecast. That's a lot of raw materials which need to be humped the length and breadth of the continent.

So, duh, of course there are vacancies and wages are on the increase.

On the face of it, it is fanciful to think that the UK can attract short-term workers from the EU. Regardless of the hostile environment - and I am not sure how much saliency that has outside the UK - who in their right mind would come in and put down the necessary roots for some semblance of normal life, only to be subject to the whims of another short-term rule change and Patel's Damoclesian sword?

Sure, a few lads will pick up the offer, sleep in their cabs for three months, save Radio 4's precious Twithmas, and fuck off home with enough money to build a house in rural Silesia. Neither will there be enough of them, nor will they represent anything other than a can kicked down the road.

[Youngian]

Brexiters are blaming the BBC for the forecourt queues claiming they’re sensationalising the issue. ‘Hold my beer,’ replied Murdoch. Even the Mail’s sticking the boot in.

[Watchman]

The next Littledick imagines; a gang of lorry drivers from Düsseldorf come over and pitch up in Birmingham, and we follow their “hilarious” adventures as they try to understand what’s great about GB; we could call it something like Yams Alright, Mine Herr!

[Malcolm Armsteen]

Phone call from Mrs A, who is at the Merton Abbey MIlls craft market. Roads all around blocked by queues at petrol stations, journey times doubled. Journey (5 miles, 4 furlongs and 3 chains) took 40 (XL) minutes.

[Oboogie]

Government line is "there are no petrol shortages". I've never tried rocking up at a refinery and asking them for £50 worth of diesel, I buy my fuel from forecourts in my home town and, since Thursday's No.10 "Don't Panic!!" announcement, I can't find any. That's a shortage.

This is another Johnson dead cat reminiscent of lifting lockdown in May 2020 and telling people not to go to the beach. Subsequent spike in COVID cases is then the silly public's fault, nothing to do with Boris.

Today the plan is to blame the shortages of food and fuel, not on Johnson or Brexit, but the silly public and the media. If the PM tells people not to panic, he's admitting there's a problem and anyone who needs a functioning motor vehicle will take sensible precautions.