A quick roundup of 3 big stories you may have missed in 2023
It’s safe to say that 2023 was a pretty eventful year! Whether or not that’s a good thing is of course subject to individual experience, but there’s no question that there was a lot to keep up with in the world of fleet and logistics – much of which we covered here on the blog at TankSafe. With so much going on though, it was easy to miss one or two headlines – so we thought we’d take a moment to look back on some of the key stories you may have missed from 2023.
Driver shortages remain a major concern
This has been a considerable concern for the industry for some time now, and while some immediate fears may have been allayed for certain individual operators, the issue as a whole hasn’t gone away. In fact, FleetNews highlighted it as the single biggest concern or UK fleets in 2023. A featured study found that 90% of commercial fleet managers have been prioritising driver retention and recruitment this year. What’s more, 100% of the study’s respondents said they believe that it’s important for them to make driving a more “in-demand” profession. As for how those efforts went… well, let’s see how 2024 goes!
Fuel tanker weight limits consultation
In April 2023, the government held a public consultation on whether or not to allow tankers to carry more fuel during times where national supply chains come under strain. The idea is to help ease the pressures on national supply chains, and avoid scenes like the UK saw in September 2021, where a combination of temporary supply chain issues and major panic-buying caused widespread fuel shortages across the entire country. If the proposals from the consultation go through, it means that tankers will be allowed to carry the maximum amount of fuel, which they’re currently prohibited from doing by law.
Fuel thefts from petrol stations at their highest in 8 years
For the last few years now, the fuel crisis seems to have lurched from one depressing milestone to the next, going from the fuel shortages we mentioned above, to the further economic pressures caused in part by the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. And in 2023, news broke that fuel theft from filling stations is now at its highest level since 2015, with increasingly desperate drivers driving off without paying. While some will statistically simply be opportunistic thefts, the wider trend does point to an increasingly bleak economic perspective here in the UK, as normally law-abiding motorists turn to steadily more extreme (and illegal) measures just to keep their cars running.
This last story in particular marks a worrying development, as it also raises the possibility of a rise in “skimming” in workplaces – essentially, where employees draw fuel from company reserves, little and often, only ‘skimming’ a little off the top. The nature of that theft makes it highly difficult to detect, and what’s more, it can end up costing businesses thousands.
That’s exactly where we come in here at TankSafe. This kind of scenario is why we’ve built It’s called TankSafe Optimum – an antisiphon device which we’ve specifically designed to provide 100% protection, so you can have peace of mind against fuel spills, overfilling, and skimming.
You can find out more on its dedicated page on our website, or find out answers to some of the most common questions over on our FAQs page. If you’ve still got queries, our experts will be happy to resolve them - fee free to give us a quick call on 01253 400 401, and we’ll be happy to help however we can!