A proposed strike action by tanker drivers has led to mass buying of petrol and diesel at UK pumps over the past couple of days. The BBC has shown images of huge queues at garages, leading to some retailers running out of fuel.
The UK Government gave advice to keep your car over two-thirds full, and if you'd normally put half a tank in, fill it up. I work opposite a garage, so took the opportunity to fill up after work when the pumps were quiet (there haven't been huge queues there yet, although the weekend may be bad). I have to admit, normally I only put in half a tank but this time I filled it with over a month's worth of fuel.
This sort of mentality is the reason that everyone's rushing to the pumps; there is no shortage, but the high demand for fuel means that suppliers are running out anyway! No-one wants the needle to hit "EMPTY" on the way to work.
Despite this situation, I think that we frugal types are in the best situation. We know how to make fuel last longer. We keep cars clean and empty to reduce consumption, we keep speeds low and accelerate and brake slowly, and importantly we take alternative transport where possible.
Plan your route to incorporate several chores at once and minimise car usage. We can beat both the fuel shortage AND the huge price of fuel in the first place!
P.S. Check out these before and after shots of washing Jools! Productive use of a sunny day I think!
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| Filthy before! |
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| Sparkly after! |
4 comments:
Well, it is hoarding and stockpiling that causes shortages and drives the price of a lot of things up and it is against the law in some countries. I hyper-mile; combining trips and taking the shortest rounte to everything - takes quite a bit of planning, some folks go to extremes in the U.S. I m also looking forward to biking now that spring is here.
Hope the strike does nt last too long.
Mr Sft drives for a living.
This could be tricky if the petrol runs out.
Sft x
your car in the dirty pic looks like mine... i need to give it some tlc i think... Im not sure about the whole petrol thing but i know the media is always getting things wrong or blowing things out of proportion so i say take it all with a pinch of salt!
That reminds me, I need to wash my car! You are right, frugal types know how to eek out the last bits of fuel. Panic buying has started in some supermarkets - frugal types never run out of food thanks to storecupboards and freezers and resourcefulness.
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