Fuel Tanker Drivers Vote to Strike

Miss Red

Miss Red

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Might be because livihoods are at stake - no work no pay.....and no we dont all work in stafford....or even where public transport links are!!!
 
Withnail

Withnail

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Well i must say i was a bit disappointed at the lack of panic - mine was the only vehicle on the forecourt.

I do like a good panic.
 
staffordjas

staffordjas

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There were more cars than usual at Freedom caravans petrol station as I walked back from town at lunch time today, which reminded me about a mention of a possible petrol tankers strike. Rang hubby to say that hadn't heard any news with being out all morning but......... get that tank filled up today rather than waiting til the weekend as planned ! (One disadvantage of only having a mini now - fewer miles to a tank full ! :( )
 
AA Silencers

AA Silencers

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I know it hits people hard when this sort of thing happens but I'd be behind them if they strike. Taxing fuel even more is crazy, it probably eats into peoples income more than the rent in some cases. It's this sort of thing that forces people into a position where they can't afford to work.

The lack of panic might mean we're witnessing the collective British 'keep calm and carry on approach' that saw us to be the great nation we are today. Actually, no that can't be right. If there's so much as a sprinkling of snow we grind to a halt and the whole show is running by a bunch of lying thieves who are all on the take. I'm off to fill up some wheelie bins with petrol. Panic everyone! Panicccccccccc! :lorks:
 
The Stafford Beast

The Stafford Beast

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The strike won't make any difference. Drivers have struck before in the UK since 2000, and the prices are still going up faster than ever.
 
AA Silencers

AA Silencers

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I'm reliably informed that collapsed because the haulage companies were given a bung behind closed doors. It wouldn't surprise me if it were true. The strike might not make the world of difference but we can't just sit there and take a pounding from the government without some sort of significant demonstration. We are the people, the government are supposed to be (in theory) our chosen representatives. Sometimes they need a message that we're getting a bit pissed off.
 
henryscat

henryscat

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The drivers are striking for their own pay and conditions and nothing to do with the price/taxation of fuel!!
 
AA Silencers

AA Silencers

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It still works on sending the message they're pissed off! Seems oddly timed to coincide with the fuel tax changes, I guess they're hoping for more sympathy then. It's a shame if the only debate that a strike brings about is that of the drivers working conditions and pay, rather than the impact of the impact of the price/taxation of fuel on everyone else's working conditions and pay!
 
henryscat

henryscat

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The bigger issue is that the price of fuel has risen over the past year or so because the price of oil has increased, and not because of changes to fuel duty. Reducing fuel duty by a few pence would be just a short term sticking plaster. Successive governments have stuck their head in the sand about peak oil production (the point at which the rate of oil production cannot be increased), which is a far more significant factor in price rises. The answer is to make the country less oil dependent and more efficient.

For many drivers, the price of fuel evidently isn't affecting them... There are excessive numbers of inefficient 4x4 type vehicles on the road with appalling fuel consumption. For a lot (not all) of drivers a more efficient car is an option for them and could easily yield an extra 20 - 30 mpg. If that isn't an option, driving more efficiently is - you still see a lot of people accelerating ridiculously, racing to the back of queues to slam their brakes on, breaking the speed limit, driving round with roof bars/boxes on they're not using and so on. I don't doubt those same drivers are probably complaining about the price of fuel....
 
basil

basil

don't mention the blinds
news is that troops are being trained to replace any striking tanker drivers, oddly over 90% of the approx 2000 tanker driver are ex-forces........
 
proactive

proactive

Enjoying a drop of red.
henryscat said:
The bigger issue is that the price of fuel has risen over the past year or so because the price of oil has increased, and not because of changes to fuel duty. Reducing fuel duty by a few pence would be just a short term sticking plaster. Successive governments have stuck their head in the sand about peak oil production (the point at which the rate of oil production cannot be increased), which is a far more significant factor in price rises. The answer is to make the country less oil dependent and more efficient.

For many drivers, the price of fuel evidently isn't affecting them... There are excessive numbers of inefficient 4x4 type vehicles on the road with appalling fuel consumption. For a lot (not all) of drivers a more efficient car is an option for them and could easily yield an extra 20 - 30 mpg. If that isn't an option, driving more efficiently is - you still see a lot of people accelerating ridiculously, racing to the back of queues to slam their brakes on, breaking the speed limit, driving round with roof bars/boxes on they're not using and so on. I don't doubt those same drivers are probably complaining about the price of fuel....
Click to expand...
Oh here we go again, another excuse for you to bang on about people using cars.

Get off your high horse, it's getting very boring.

Anyway, back on topic...

Has a date for strike action been set yet and do we know whether they intend for it to be a lengthy strike?
 
J

Jenksie

Well-Known Forumite
John said:
Oh here we go again, another excuse for you to bang on about people using cars.

Get off your high horse, it's getting very boring.

Anyway, back on topic...

Has a date for strike action been set yet and do we know whether they intend for it to be a lengthy strike?
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I didn't detect any anti car sentiment in the answer - just a few common sense observations. Todays coverage on TV was appalling - almost willing a strike.

I'm told a thousand drivers were balloted - can 700 people cause such disruption?

I'm also told by a work mate (who has been known to read the Daily Mail) that average pay for the Drivers is £46k.
Can anyone confirm or deny?
 
henryscat

henryscat

Well-Known Forumite
Jenksie said:
I'm told a thousand drivers were balloted - can 700 people cause such disruption?
Click to expand...

Quite possibly... There are far fewer petrol stations than there used to be, and they don't tend to have huge storage tanks so busy sites are reliant on frequent deliveries.

I'm also told by a work mate (who has been known to read the Daily Mail) that average pay for the Drivers is £46k.
Can anyone confirm or deny?
Click to expand...

Hoyer who deliver for Shell were quoting an average of £45k.
 
AA Silencers

AA Silencers

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To be fair I think John makes a good point. I wonder how popular how popular a course would be to teach people how to drive economically. Many people don't understand how and why a car uses fuel so don't know how to drive efficiently. He's also right in saying the country (world?) needs to be less fossil fuel dependant. There are alternatives to at least supplement our consumption but they never get explored. If the tanker drivers are just striking for better pay I guess we'd still be screwed though even if cars ran on bio-ethanol. it would still need delivering and we'd still be stuck without tanker drivers.

If the wages really are above 40K I think they're on sticky ground striking for more money. That said do we really know what conditions they're working under? I'd just be cautious of passing judgement because it sounds like good money.
 
shoes

shoes

Well-Known Forumite
henryscat said:
The bigger issue is that the price of fuel has risen over the past year or so because the price of oil has increased, and not because of changes to fuel duty.
Click to expand...

Tax only accounts for 80.1p in the litre, or around 57% of the cost of fuel. 57% is quite a low rate of tax to be paying on a product..... oh wait.......

Absolute piss take in my opinion.

The age old question still stands - where the hell does all of this money go?
 
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