Latest Fuel News

A major demonstration by truckers will be held on July 2 in London to protest against the spiralling cost of fuel.

The Road Haulage Association, the lobby group TransAction 2007 and the Transport Association will all unite to call on the Government to reduce fuel duty.

A convoy of heavy goods vehicles will make its way from the M40 Westway to Westminster, where a large foot lobby will also congregate at the Houses of Parliament.

“This will be one of the biggest ever lobbies of Parliament by UK transport operators,” predicted TransAction spokesman Peter Carroll.

“This industry is so efficient that it often goes unnoticed but the second of July will be the day when it will make its voice well and truly heard.

“By the time we leave London on the afternoon of the second, members of Parliament will be left in no doubt as to the intolerable knock-on effects being suffered by a vast number of their constituents.”

The industry wants to see the introduction of a fuel duty regulator, which was endorsed by the Scottish National Party and will be taken to the report stage of the Finance Bill in early July.

RHA Chairman Andy Boyle said: “The regulator would result in an automatic freeze on fuel duty increases if world oil prices rose above levels forecast by the chancellor with a corresponding reduction in fuel duty to match the extra revenue from VAT from higher pump prices.

“In the longer term, stability and parity with Europe would be achieved by the implementation of an Essential User Rebate in order to reduce fuel duty to the level elsewhere in the EU.”

Hauliers angry at the escalating cost of diesel have descended on two oil refineries in west Wales. Approximately 65 lorries were reported to be outside Chevron in Pembroke Dock and Murco in Milford Haven, with protesters asking tanker drivers not to leave the sites. Those involved in the demo, organised to pressure the government into reducing fuel tax, are also reported to be saying they are prepared to stay there all week.

A spokesman for Chevron said: “The strike by drivers working for Hoyer UK and Suckling on the supply contract with Shell ended at 6am this morning and normal tanker deliveries are taking place from all Chevron locations.

“In addition, Chevron’s refinery in Pembroke is operating normally, helping to replenish supplies to service stations and other customers as quickly as possible. Currently, around 7% of our Texaco-branded service stations are experiencing shortages of one or more fuels and the areas worst affected are in Wales and the South West and these sites are being prioritised to ensure that they receive new deliveries as quickly as possible. However, it could take up to 48 hours before all stocked-out sites receive all their requirements.

“Separately, around 25 trucks are protesting about high fuel prices outside Pembroke refinery but this protest is peaceful and not affecting deliveries.”

Ray Holloway, Director of the Petrol Retailers’ Association (PRA), said: “The whole situation - what with rising fuel prices, the Shell strike and retailers running out of fuel on the forecourt in the last few days - is pretty dire really. And we still don’t know where we are with things, especially as there’s the threat of a return to strike action from the Shell drivers. Since the Grangemouth strike in April, it’s been one thing after another for the industry.”

Retailers around the UK were still reporting to be running out of stocks, whilst one retailer in Exeter sparked outrage by temporarily raising the price of unleaded petrol to £1.99 a litre - in an apparent bid to stop customers panic buying.

If all drivers adhered to the 70mph speed limit on motorways and dual carriageways, it is estimated that 2.1 million tonnes of CO2 would be saved every year.

This equates to a saving of 0.8 billion litres of road fuel.

According to analysis for the Government’s Climate Change Programme Review, if petrol cost 116p per litre and diesel 129p, the value of the fuel saving would be £1 billion!

With pump prices now past this mark, the savings for fleets that insist – through schemes such as driver education and telematic observation – that every driver observes the speed limit, the savings would be enormous.

“However, this fuel saving would only occur at significant costs in enforcing the speed limit,” said transport minister, Jim Fitzpatrick.

“Enforcement of motorway speed limits does save fuel, but enforcement is done primarily for road safety reasons.”

Esso has taken steps to reassure its dealers that it has “contingency plans” in place if the strike threatened by Shell drivers goes ahead this week. Karen Dickens, Esso’s Executive Director, Fuels Marketing UK & Ireland, said she hoped drivers would work through the industrial action to maintain supplies and ensure product is delivered through to sites.

Speaking at the company’s Dealer Forum at The Belfry Hotel in Sutton Coldfield last week, she told the audience: “The haulier provides drivers for Shell and Esso. If the dispute is not resolved, we hope drivers will be prepared to go through picket lies to maintain supplies. We have been building stocks in the terminal to make sure their is sufficient product. We have contingency plans to make sure the right stock is on site.”

Dickens added that the rest of the market should be able to continue to operate despite the four day strike, which haulage company Hoyer UK says is planned to commence at 6am this Friday.

The walkout by Shell drivers follows the collapse of pay talks between Hoyer and Suckling Transport Ltd, who both deliver fuel for Shell - and the Unite union. Unite wants a pay increase of 13.2%, while the two companies have offered 6.8%, which they say would take drivers’ average earnings to £39,000 per annum.

The industrial action comes as fuel protests spread around the globe, including demonstrations by thousands of truckers in France, Spain and Portugal and angry and chaotic scenes in India and Malaysia. These follow the recent demos held by truckers in London and bikers in Manchester. Lorry drivers in Scotland were also planning their own protest, according to the website of TrasAction 2007.

Despite the growing anger among road users, there is still no word from Gordon Brown on whether he will consider scrapping Government plans for the 2 pence per litre increase in fuel duty, which is due in October.

Meanwhile, the government has put its own contingency plans in place to deal with the impact of the planned Shell drivers’strike, including ensuring provisions of fuel for the emergency services. It is also looking at transporting supplies to areas with high demand.

Proposals for the introduction of significantly longer and heavier goods vehicles onto British roads were rejected yesterday by Transport Secretary Ruth Kelly.This follows the publication of an independent report, which highlighted a number of issues making their use in the UK impractical, both on a permanent or trial basis.

The report, which was commissioned by the DfT from the Transport Research Laboratory, found that super-lorries (a vehicle of 25.25m or more in length) could lead to an increase in CO2 emissions due to goods shifting from rail to road, create serious implications for the management of the road network - as the vehicles would be unsuitable for many roads and junctions - as well as introducing new safety risks.

Ruth Kelly said: “This study shows that super-lorries are not compatible with British roads.

“Not only are there clear environmental drawbacks, but such vehicles would be unsuitable for many roads and junctions, while providing the infrastructure to accommodate them would require substantial investment.”

It is also unclear how efficiently such vehicles could be used, especially when sourcing loads of sufficient size to make return journeys sustainable; and about their impacts on the viability of existing rail freight services and the potential for future growth.

The report does show, however, that there could be potentially worthwhile benefits from permitting a modest increase in the length of current articulated vehicles.

The DfT will consider this further in line with its ongoing strategic work on freight.