Petrol can annoyance-the nanny state?

I've seen notices to that effect in garages for a while but have not been stopped from filling my can.

Mart> I wnet along to one of our local garages to buy a can of petrol the

I also think that Rick Wakeman on the programme "Grumpy Old Men" put it very well when he said " I wake up every morning to wait for the phone to ring and the Government give me permission to go for a S**t"

Mart> I wnet along to one of our local garages to buy a can of petrol the

I work part time the local BP garage (whilst i study at university) and am only supposed to allow people to use the pumps if they are filling (these are the exact words of my boss) proper petrol cans. (however if there are cars parked on the front pumps, it impossible to see the pumps at the back anyway). I think the reason that they have introduced this rule on the oecourts is that a couple of years back there was a spate of kids filling up milk bottles etc, to power anything from there remote control cars to those petrol powered scooter like things which were all the rage a few years ago.

If you ant i will ask the boss for the exact reason and guidlines next time i see her.

Mike M

miley snipped-for-privacy@hotmail.com

Odd, take a look at:

It appears that there is no restriction at the filling stations in law but the licencing authority might impose some. The amount of petrol you can carry in a vehicle (not in it's fuel tank) is limited to two containers.

As for containers, 5l plastic 10l metal maximum with effective liquid and vapour seals. So your normal 20l (not 25) jerrycan is not legal for petrol as it exceeds 10l capacity.

On Fri, 17 Mar 2006 16:21:55 +0000 (GMT), "Dave Liquorice" finished tucking into their plate of fish, chips and mushy peas. Wiping their mouths, they swiggged the last of their cup of tea, paid the bill and wrote::

Oh dear............ I fill 2 x 20 litres of petrol and 2 x 20 litres of Diesel at least once a day..........................

Brian L Dominic

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Is that for commercial use? The rules vary between fuel carried "just in case I run out" and that carried for commercial use say in mowers, generators, chain saws etc...

I've never been queried when filling 20l jerrycans with petrol or diesel.

Thanks to Dave Liquorice for the regs which I have printed off & will now carry in my glove box! It occurs to me that the regulation might be a Term of Supply by the petrol company, not the Government or the licensing authority - just guessing, mind.

I have a couple of VERY unusual petrol cans which I found in the skip at the Anson Museum & ran off with them after asking Geoff. Made in steel sheet & painted bright red, they are round & have complicated but very secure caps. One holds ten litres, the other fifteen (IIRC) I was on my way to an event & stopped to fill them at a rural station. I topped up the car & filled both tins by dint of opening the tailgate on the Volvo. The lady on the pump didn't stop me as (I suspect) I'd started the purchase by topping up the car and she wasn't sure where the one ended & the other began. She was not a happy bunny though & demanded over the intercom that I show her the can. I lugged the smaller one in & she said "That's not a proper petrol can". I pointed out that it had all sorts of dire warnings stamped into the container & that the cap was sealed to a far better standard than a "proper" petrol can. The fact that it originally held acetone completely passed her by! She then demanded to see the other. I told her she could come & look at it in the back of the car but I was not going to carry it in for her. No, she was on her own & couldn't leave the till.

The queue was getting restive by now & I suggested that if she was that fussed about it I'd just pay for the petrol in the car & leave her my name and address so the company could bill me for the petrol so she wasn't responsible. I can be pretty convincing when I try & produced a business card as I spoke.

There was muttering but she swiftly took my credit card with ill grace and black looks & the sale was concluded promptly for all the fuel I'd pumped. What a surprise ;o))

The other thing that happened recently was at Reading services on the M4. There was no pump free with the hose on the side I needed, so I just reversed in. Seemed obvious to me, but when I went to pay I was attempted to be torn off a strip by the large, middle aged, female cashier. It appeared that I was not allowed to reverse up to a pump & if she'd seen me do it, she'd not have served me. I was really lucky that she'd not turned the pump off half way through & then where would I be? I was so nonplussed by this, I didn't know quite what to say, so let it go by unchallenged.

However, I had my revenge by reversing the Volvo from the pump & off the forecourt, disappearing from her view backwards around the corner of the building before turning round and driving off. I was surprised she didn't follow me waving a book of regulations ;o))

Regards,

Kim Siddorn

Diplomacy done, plates spun, fires fought, maidens eaten - well, three out of four ain't bad

Vikings - Violating Villainous, Volvo Vielding Vagabonds! :-)

Tom

In message , Kim Siddorn writes

I pulled into Keele services on the M6, towing a 4-wheel trailer. I drove into the HGV side of the pumps, the car being a diesel and all. I went into the cash desk to have my credit card swiped, this being SOP for HGV fuel purchases, only to be told that I couldn't fill a car at the HGV pumps.

"Why not?", I enquire. "It's against company policy. You'll have to reverse up and go in the car side of the depot." I thanked them politely and left in a forward direction and filled up elsewhere.

Regards

Pete

The thing about reversing on a forecourt is a new one on me. The only time i refuse to turn the pumps on, are when someone has clearley pushed in (the odd time there is much of a que), somebody is being offensive/threatening on the forecourt, or if the vehicles reg number is blacklisted for drive off's in the area. Or (this normally happens at least 5 times a day at my place) the pumps just stop working for no apparant reason.

Mike M

miley snipped-for-privacy@hotmail.com

On Fri, 17 Mar 2006 21:22:04 +0000 (GMT), "Dave Liquorice" finished tucking into their plate of fish, chips and mushy peas. Wiping their mouths, they swiggged the last of their cup of tea, paid the bill and wrote::

I suppose you could say so - I work at a car supermarket. We are the filling station's best customer, as all the cars go out running on fresh air and this is the first filling station they come to, and they ALL have to fill up (except the stupid tw@t we had to go and rescue, who despite being told numerous times [like they all are] that there was no fuel in his vehicle "thought he could get home"!!!)

Brian L Dominic

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of the Cromford Canal: (Waterways World Site of the Month, November 2005)

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Theres always the odd idiot.

I get at least 1 person a week who fills their car up, then comes in and asks what fuel theyve put in their car.

Mike M

miley snipped-for-privacy@hotmail.com

The only thing I can think of for this one is that the NPR system can't cope with cars going backwards or going in backwards the system doesn't get to see the number plate at all.

This may be a stupid question but is HGV fuel the same as the Diesel I put in my car, I only ask because there is a local petrol station with pumps marked with big warning signs saying "HGV bunkering fuel" as if this is different?

Greg

Chill out dudes

Greg, The only difference I know of is that the nozzle is larger and the pump rate is higher because of the larger tanks trucks use. I found this out the hard way whilst filling my brothers truck up on our way to a rally with the engines and tractor.

Martin P

Greg wrote:

same fuel, often comes from the same tank as the car diesel, the difference is the hose is larger diameter and the pump that moves the fuel is set to a FAR higher power.

try and fill a diesel car with it and chances are a gallon or two will be sprayed out all over you and more importantly the forecourt.

diesel spill on the forecourt needs that lane shut IMMEDIATELY while a clean up is done, and it has to go in the incident book, yes, silly people can fall over in diesel, injure themselves and sue, more importantly vehicles can skid in diesel, and that can take a pump out.

if you are not an HGV, stay out of the HGV bays, you will only piss everyone off.

this applies to idiots with caravans and trailers who can't reverse or maneouver so chicken out and try the HGV bays

as for officious knobs at the cashiers desk, if you've already drawn the fuel sod them, they can take your money or not, as they see fit, if you haven't drawn the fuel there is no law forcing them to serve you, so vote with your wallet.

I dont think I like being referred to as an officious knob. At the end of the day people are only doing there job.

did I call you an officious knob?

no.

my words were "as for officious knobs at the cashiers desk"

clearly there is no exclusivity that everyone at a cashiers desk is by definition an officious knob because if there were "officious knob" and "cashier" would be as interchangeable as "yellow peril" and "traffic warden"