Petrol pumps empty due to hoarders, peak traffic for tankers | Economy

2023-06-30 12:28:13

Jun 30, 2023 at 1:55 PMUpdate: 9 minutes ago

Motorists refuel quickly before fuel prices skyrocket on Saturday due to higher excise duties. As a result, it is already much busier than on a normal Friday and petrol pumps are running empty. But tanker truck drivers work overtime to refuel each gas station.

In various places in the country, petrol pumps are running empty due to the extra crowds. An example of this is a Shell pump in Groningen, which had already been filled up Friday morning.

“It has been busier than usual since Tuesday, but today 50 percent more people come to fill up. I expect this to increase even further later today,” says Erik de Vries, director of trade association NOVE. About half of the filling stations are connected to this.

The gas station owners De Vries speaks to, also see some motorists filling an extra jerry can with petrol. “But you shouldn’t do that with a lot of jerry cans. It’s unsafe.”

Prices go up at midnight

De Vries expects it to remain busy until late in the evening. “Because at the stroke of twelve, many gas stations will charge a different price with higher excise duty.” As of July 1, 17 cents tax per liter of petrol and 12 cents per liter of diesel (including VAT) will be added.

“Not hundreds, but dozens of pumps will run empty today,” De Vries suspects. But according to him, in many cases they are quickly filled once more. “Additional tankers have been deployed and truck drivers are working overtime until late at night to refill each pump. And once more tomorrow.”

Gas stations try to refill quickly

Filling stations and fuel suppliers do everything they can to keep all pumps filled. Some filling stations have already planned extra filling times and the amount of available petrol is distributed as much as possible, says De Vries.

“There are also filling stations with an automatic leveling system that notifies suppliers when pumps are almost empty. Some pumps do not have regular fuel suppliers. They can now sometimes misunderstand if regular customers take precedence.”

‘Don’t ride your last drop to the pump’

Although he thinks that the pumps will often only be empty for a short time, De Vries advises motorists not to drive to a gas station at the very last drop. “You may find an empty pump, although there are often gas stations in the area.”

Motorists who like premium fuels might be wrong today. “They are sold out faster. When refilling fuels, we prefer regular fuels.”

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