Finished the blow of the dry breakdown? As the All Saints holidays begin, this Friday, October 21, 2022, which concerns all school zones, the Prime Minister, Elisabeth Borne, assured Thursday that “the French can leave confident“on vacation, with”a return to normal in the coming days“concerning the supply of fuel to service stations, in an interview with Liberation.”The situation has improved markedly since the start of the week.“, argues the head of government, against a backdrop of the breathlessness of the social movement of the oil sites, two of them from TotalEnergies remaining at a standstill on Thursday after new votes by strikers.
>> Fuels: follow the situation live
“I’m not going to tell you that the situation will be 100% settled for departures on vacation, but the French can leave confident“, insisted Elisabeth Borne, evoking “the prospect of a return to normal in the days to come“, with “90% of motorway stations (which) will operate normally“from Friday evening, when, on Thursday, 16.9% of stations experienced supply difficulties on at least one fuel (against 20.3% on Wednesday), with situations still tense in Bourgogne-Franche-Comté, in Ile- de-France and in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes.
And the motorway companies also want to be reassuring: most service areas will be supplied with fuel. How to explain such a difference between the classic stations and those of the main axes? The answer is actually simple: on motorways, fuel distribution is a “minimum” service mission. Thus, according to the decree of August 8, 2016 “setting the conditions for the organization of public service on ancillary facilities located on the motorway network under concession”, we can clearly read in article 3 that “the minimum level of service offered to users” requires that “All usual energy sources are distributed“. It is also in this article that the free and compulsory services in motorway service stations are listed, such as “provision of windshield cleaning kit“, “the provision of hand towels on the slopes“or even”public toilets, with a specific baby area and showers for men and women drivers“. And the article to clarify: “These services and services are provided 24 hours a day, every day of the year.“.
On franceinfo, Thursday October 20, Frédéric Plan, general delegate of the French Federation of Combustibles, Fuels & Heating, which represents fuel distributors, domestic and professional, and a thousand gas stations, thus specified that “the All Saints weekend will be able to pass more serenely (…) There will be less risk of running into dry pumps [sur l’autoroute] since these service stations under contract are delivered in priority“.
LIVE Fuel shortage ➡️ “The global figures hide a variable reality”, recalls Frédéric Plan, who represents the distributors. “The situation stopped getting worse last weekend. The weekend of All Saints will be able to pass more serenely. pic.twitter.com/vj4W3jkV84
— franceinfo (@franceinfo) October 20, 2022
Be careful however, in theory, there should be no distinction between a conventional pump and that of a station on the A6, for example. But there are, in fact, priorities: the major oil groups are indeed contractually committed with the motorway companies for the supply of service stations. Clearly, in the event of an outage, tankers risk heavy financial penalties. Just like motorists, by the way: running out of gas can be considered an inconvenient stop “son emergency lanes, except in cases of absolute necessity”, likely to be sanctioned according to article R 417-10 of the Highway Code with a second class fine of 35 euros. Without forgetting the costs of towing and possible repairs which, themselves, are counted in hundreds of euros.
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The Vinci Autoroutes group had already wanted to reassure future holidaymakers by announcing on Wednesday that at least 90% of the service stations in its network were able to provide fuel. “We have about 82% of our stations with unleaded petrol, and 88% with diesel. That is to say that, on your route, you may come across a station that no fuel, but the next one will have some anyway, reassures Véronique Tallon, customer manager for the APRR and AREA motorways, subsidiaries of the Eiffage group. In all cases, our variable message signs inform motorists. On the highway, we have stations almost every 60km. Obviously they’ll find a station to stock up on,” she finally slips. Out of 97 service stations in this network, there are only three that are completely out of supply, and around twenty that are still suffering partial shortages, finally specifies Véronique Tallon.
But before hitting the road, it is better to anticipate: on the government’s websites or the mobile applications of motorway companies, motorists can follow supplies at service stations in real time.