With over a third of UK forecourts selling diesel at over £2 a litre, soaring prices are bringing about a big shift in driver behaviour. Forecourt operators are reporting that while customers are still coming, they are reducing the amount of fuel they put in the cars with each visit.
“Comparing September 1 to 29 against the same period last year our diesel volume is down just over 18%”, Oliver Blake says of his forecourt in Long Riston, East Yorkshire.
“Interestingly, our customer numbers are broadly holding steady. What has changed significantly is the amount being purchased per visit. Our average diesel fill has dropped from around 31 litres to 24.8 litres, a 20% reduction,” he adds.
“Customers are still coming to the forecourt, but they’re putting considerably less fuel in each time. It seems they’re moving towards top-ups rather than filling their tanks.”
Tom Buckley, general manager with TAP Retail, says his firm has seen a 30% fall in diesel volumes across its four forecourts compared to this time last year, with a 12% drop in the last four weeks alone.
Goran Raven, meanwhile, has experienced a “significant” drop in diesel volumes at his Abridge forecourt in Essex.
“I think people who are able to work from home are doing so as they can make serious cost savings that way,” Raven explains, echoing research from PetrolPrices that indicates 60% of motorists have cut back on their driving.
“Transaction numbers in general are constant, though,” Raven adds with a note of optimism. “And while there has been a small impact on shop sales, this hasn’t been noteworthy.”
Lower fuel volumes and steady or rising transaction numbers are two sector-wide trends according to Edge Petrol. The firm’s chief operating officer, Karl Evans, notes that average diesel fill-up volumes are down 7%, with transactions up 3%, the latter figure partly necessitated by drivers drawing less fuel with each stop.
Against this backdrop, retailers are doing their best to shield drivers from price volatility, with operators taking a 21% hit on diesel margins compared to July, according to Edge. The firm also says sites are also keeping their tanks 13% fuller in the knowledge that prices only look to be heading in one direction.
