Over the past two weeks, we’ve been in constant contact with members across the country. We’ve monitored hundreds of social media posts, taken calls from operators in every state, and engaged directly with the issues you’re raising. This update summarises what we’re hearing, because the challenges you’re facing deserve to be documented and understood.
Your staff are copping it
This is the issue that concerns us most. Across the country, members are reporting a sharp and sustained increase in verbal abuse, aggression, and threatening behaviour directed at frontline service station staff. These are your employees, often young casual workers, being blamed by frustrated customers for fuel prices and availability they have absolutely no control over.
Some operators have told us their staff are refusing to work evening shifts alone. Others have had to change their trading hours or put two people on the counter during peak periods purely for safety reasons. This is a workplace health and safety issue that is escalating, and it is not getting the attention it deserves from government or media.
If you are experiencing staff abuse at your site, please document it. Report incidents through your normal WHS processes, and let us know. We are raising this issue publicly on your behalf and the more evidence we can point to, the harder it is to ignore.
Supply allocation is hurting independents hardest
Many of you are reporting reduced or zero allocations from major fuel terminals. Contracted customers are being prioritised, which means independents buying on spot terms, the way many of you have always operated, are being pushed to the back of the queue or shut out entirely. Some members have told us they have not received a delivery in over a week. Others have been told there is no estimated timeframe for resupply.
We want to be clear about what this means. It is not that Australia has run out of fuel. Terminals have product. But the allocation model the majors operate during periods of tight supply structurally disadvantages independent operators. Major branded sites continue to trade while independents, particularly in regional areas, run dry. This is a systemic issue that existed before this crisis. The crisis has simply made it impossible to ignore.
The cash flow squeeze is real
Several members have raised concerns about the financial pressure of rapidly rising wholesale costs. Most independents operate on same day or next day payment terms because longer credit means a higher buy price. When terminal gate prices jump 45 to 50 cents per litre in two weeks, the cash required for each delivery increases by thousands of dollars overnight, and that cash needs to be available before you’ve sold most of the previous load.
At the same time, many of you are not passing through the full wholesale increase immediately at the board. You’re watching what competitors are pricing, you’re trying to do the right thing by your community, and you’re absorbing part of the increase in the short term. That gap between what you’re paying and what you’re charging is where the financial stress sits. We’ve had members tell us directly that they are worried about whether they can get through this financially. These are experienced operators, not people who are easily rattled.
You are not price gougers. You are community operators.
One of the most frustrating things we’re seeing in public discussion is the assumption that service station operators are profiteering from the crisis. The reality is the opposite. Independent retailers are price takers, not price makers. Your margins on fuel are measured in cents, not dollars. When wholesale prices move, your board price moves because it has to, not because you’re choosing to extract more from your customers.
We’ve seen members across the country implement purchase limits, restrict jerry can sales, adjust trading hours, and prioritise regular customers, all to ensure their communities have access to fuel for as long as possible. One operator in the NSW limited sales to $20 per customer rather than lifting prices and selling out in days. That is not the behaviour of someone gouging. That is a small business owner putting their community first.
What ServoPro is doing
We are actively engaging with national media to ensure the independent operator perspective is heard. We are monitoring the situation daily and providing updates as things develop. We are raising the staff abuse issue publicly and pushing for it to be taken seriously. And we are documenting what our 2,100 members are experiencing so that when this crisis passes, and it will pass, there is a clear record of where the system failed independent operators and what needs to change.
Keep talking to us. Every call, every message, every post you share helps us build a clearer picture and advocate more effectively on your behalf. We’re in this with you.