Any haulier intending to operate more than one season has a fuel escalator built into their contracts, as said most hauliers pay by bunkering.

Hauliers will have seen the price come down as they'll be paying fuel card rates not supermarket or motorway pump prices.

We aren't being exploited by supermarkets - none of us are forced to buy fuel there - if a local filling station is cheaper than your local supermarket, give them your business.

Most often they're not, mainly because most 'franchised' filling stations are with the big fuel companies and thus will expect to charge more for their supposed 'premium' fuels. Many do have more detergents in them than those offered by the supermarkets, but the question is whether the bump in price per litre is accounted for in the better engine performance and longevity / reliability.

Personally speaking, if the difference is only a penny for the standard fuels, then maybe, and perhaps 3-5p a litre for the superfuels. My local Esso franchise is currently a penny a litre more expensive than the next door Tesco filling station, and given Tesco now are reducing the Clubcard points earned for purchases and how they can be spent generally, there's more incentive for me to buy my 95Ron UL at the Esso filling station.

The difference between petrol and diesel, at least standard grades (I don't know what either is currently charging for superfuels as I haven't filled up for a while, I just see the prices of the main two products advertised on the electronic display board) is now 15p / L rather than 21p about a month or so ago. Prices locally have dropped by about 3-4p / L average in that same time, which I think is lower than in other areas.

The only 'true' compettion I've seen is an properly (unbranded) independent filling station one town over (the filling station is actually just outside the town on a country lane) and is charging about 2p a litre less than any local competition, whether that be the supermarkets (next lowest) or the 'franchised' lot.

I obviously do not include Cosco filling stations as they are always quite a bit cheaper than anyone, presumably as they subsidise the cost of their fuel via the shop subscription and prices. They have tended to be about 5% cheaper than the next lowest in the area.

Competition Markets Authority was warned exactly what would happen if Asda & Morrison’s was taken over by private equity sharks. Outcome as predicted. In both retailers produce is now a secondary profit centre to high margin fuels (with no German discounter competition). Costco fuels dramatically cheaper with queues around the block. Absolutely useless Competition and Markets Authority.

I'm pretty sure Asda is 50% owned by two blokes from Bradford.

Without wishing to add fuel to this fire (dad humour), talking with family and friends it appears that supermarkets are pricing their fuel cleverly. In areas where there is strong local supermarket competition, especially Lidl and Aldi, they use good value fuel to gain footfall. In areas that are less competitive, their fuel prices are in line or marginally lower than mainstream fuel stations. From a personal perspective, I am now working out what other tasks and chores I can add to a journey to justify the extra 18 miles (return) that a visit to a cheap fuel supermarket entails. In our case the price differential means it is sometimes worth it (including time) on fuel cost saving alone. I guess supermarkets are not charities and can't be blamed for maximising every penny of profit.

Competition Markets Authority was warned exactly what would happen if Asda & Morrison’s was taken over by private equity sharks. Outcome as predicted.

The days of cheap supermarket fuel is gone, as they have to compete with the likes of Lidl and Aldi.

Would they then not have cheaper fuel to encourage you to their shop rather than going to Lidl/Aldi?

It seems clear in my area, SE Staffordshire, that Asda no longer compete on fuel price they're 2p/litre more than the nearby Sainsburys and Morrisons, who themselves are 2p/litre more than local branded filling stations, predominantly Texaco.

Asada, Morrisons, Tesco, Sainsburys all sell fuel together with franchised fuel company outlets and some independents.

They are all alert to competitive pressures and price their fuel accordingly. Historically (and I suspect it is still the case) the major supermarkets priced fuel as a draw into the supermarket shop on which they made far more profit.

We are free to refuel where we want - buy branded or cheapest. It is not worth driving any distance to save a few pence a litre as the fuel used in so doing negates any saving.

The problem (since the supermarkets enetered the market in the mid 90s) has been that, IMHO, the supermarkets, as you say, used filling stations as 'loss leaders' to attract customers to the store more generally, but what you didn't say is that I think they also used such 'lower' prices to drive out local competition, meaning they then are free to put prices back up after all the local independents have gone.

Whilst my area has some 'branded filling stations, all bar one are well out of my town and on the dual carriageway and trunk roads, and all-bar one of those are high-priced outlets dependent on the wallies who don't in any way plan journeys and refuelling and have to buy fuel mid-journey, e.g. on the extortionate motorway service stops.

The only in-town filling station left (the other one I knew of closed in 2007 - there may have been more in the past before I moved to the town a year before) barely hangs on as it is right next to Tesco and, apart from a period of 3-6 months in the run up to last Christmas, has never been able to out-compete Tesco on price.

Out of interest - the cost of petrol 10 years ago in 2013 was 135p per litre. The current pump price locally is ~145p per litre - a significant reduction in real terms. In summary - there is little or nothing to whinge about.

To be fair, the cost of petrol just prior to the Pandemic was about 120p a litre, so 145p is still an increase of 20%. Even so, there is a lot to complain about, especially when wholesale prices for fuel and power have dropped dramatically over the last 3-6 months, and yet the cost of goods and services, including transportation, are still significantly on the rise. And ICE fuels have only come down relatively slowly. Electricity and gas have not, and in fact are still rising.

You may not be seriously affected by inflation, but many people, myself included, have been, and it has not been an easy time, especially when real world inflation far outstrips (i'd say between 3 and 5x) the 'official' rate, which includes many 'nice to have' items that many aren't buying at the moment.

What tends to happen in the forecourt industry is that companies will look at prices charged on other local forecourts and modify pricing accordingly. Doing otherwise risks losing sales.

I remember playing a business game while with my erstwhile employer - must have been some time around 1980 - following exactly this scenario, Can't recall how much difference it made to my career a the time, not much I suppose ....

How quickly consumer prices react to changes in wholesale markets depends on 3 factors:

• how quickly the supplier (supermarket, forecourt etc) choose to pass on savings - I suspect many are rather quicker to pass on increases than reductions
• the contractual basis upon which suppliers purchase their fuel - I suspect most forward purchase, possibly by several months. This gives them stability of supply cost, but means they cannot pass on market prices immediately
• end of the winter season when heating oil demand falls releasing refinery capacity for closely related diesel. More supply normally means lower prices.

If you want to blame forecourt fuel price changes entirely on a conspiracy by the fuel providers to rip off motorists, that is a judgement.

Not one to which I subscribe - price fixing in the UK is illegal. What tends to happen in the forecourt industry is that companies will look at prices charged on other local forecourts and modify pricing accordingly. Doing otherwise risks losing sales.

Price fixing may be illegal, but taking longer to pass on reductions in the wholesale price 'on occasion' is far harder to spot, especially when not all players do it at any one time. Besides, there has always been an uneasy realtionship between the regulators in a number of industries (and not just in the UK - across the world) and the bigger corporations and their staff.

Especially as many of those organisations are themselves 'arms length' quangos with little to no direct oversight by elected politicians. Unfortunately they aren't any better when that is the case (i.e. in house in a country;s civil service), because politicians regularly use the same 'gravy train' to indulge in back-scratching.

If quangos actually engaged in proper investigations and published reports that showed widespread collusion, then I suspect those corporations involved would have a lot of dirt on the 'investigators' and their so-called 'political masters'. There are quite a few industries where it is common knowledge on a worldwide basis that indulge in such behaviour.

In my view, 'local competition' is often given for price discrepancies, and yet the supermarkets don't do that with their groceries - they compete nationally, even before internet shopping was available.