Speaking after energy firm BP closed several sites due to a lack of deliveries, Jonathan Best, director of ATF Fuels, said he ‘did not foresee’ the national shortage of HGV drivers impacting local forecourts.
Mr Best echoed UK Transport Secretary Grant Shapps’s call for motorists to ‘carry on as normal’, adding that Jersey fuel companies were unlikely to face similar problems.
He said: ‘At present, we don’t feel there are any issues for ourselves. I also think the BP issue was blown out of proportion as it was fewer than ten [forecourts] that actually experienced closure in a total network of around 1,300. Don’t panic buy because that does cause issues. At the moment there doesn’t appear to be a problem [in Jersey] and we do not foresee there being one.’
Bertrand Dellinger, the managing director of Rubis Channel Islands, said he ‘fully agreed’ with Mr Best, and that he also believed the situation in the UK had been exaggerated.
He said: ‘There is no reason to panic, and we have just received a delivery so there is plenty of supply. If there was a serious issue, then we could always buy from other suppliers but I don’t think we will have to.’
The estimated shortfall of more than 100,000 HGV drivers in the UK has contributed to major supply issues across a number of sectors.
