Petrol shortages hit Vic, NSW hardest

The public is being urged not to panic-buy fuel as grounded Cootes trucks may cause fuel shortages. Source: AAP

FUEL supplies are expected to run low at southern Australian service stations for days while hundreds of Cootes Transport vehicles are grounded or forced to undergo repairs.

A massive audit of the trucking company's fleet was launched in NSW and Victoria following last week's horrific tanker crash in Mona Vale, Sydney, which killed two people.

By Tuesday, authorities had grounded 79 Cootes trucks in Victoria and 23 in NSW.

Petrol companies say some fuel deliveries have been affected but motorists are urged not to panic buy.

Navi Kahlon, an attendant at a petrol station in the Melbourne suburb of Balaclava, told AAP several kinds of petrol were running low.

"It has been very busy and the customers have been very angry," she said.

"I just say to them, 'have you seen the news?'"

VicRoads inspectors have now completed their four-day audit of 205 Cootes vehicles in that state, issuing 181 defect notices.

"With regards to when the grounded vehicles will return to operation, that is largely dependent on the company, on the nature of the faults and how quickly the company can organise for repairs to be carried out," VicRoads Chief Operating Officer Peter Todd said.

VicRoads is now reviewing the company's heavy vehicle accreditation.

In NSW, Roads and Maritime Services and police have launched the second phase of their audit, ordering the Cootes LPG tanker fleet and all the company's remaining heavy vehicles off the road for inspection.

About half the 53 defect notices issued so far are for major problems including brake failures, suspension and steering faults.

NSW inspectors handed down 174 notices during the first stage.

A BP spokesman told AAP the company was operating at 64 per cent of its normal capacity.

"With so many vehicles off the road, our distribution networks have been disrupted, particularly in Melbourne and Sydney," he said.

"If it would normally take three days to fulfil an order, it's now taking four days."

He said it was "regrettable" but the company was doing everything it could to get supply moving again, including diverting some of its own trucks from regional areas.

Shell Australia said customers in NSW and Western Australia shouldn't be affected.

"Customers in Victoria, southeast Queensland and Adelaide may see some temporary periods of fuel availability at a small number of Shell service stations until fresh deliveries are made," spokesman Paul Zennaro said in a statement.

A Caltex spokesman said supply of all fuel products was "more than adequate to meet demand" and distribution disruptions would have a limited impact on customers.

One in 10 Caltex-supplied Melbourne metro servos have experienced petrol or diesel shortages, he said.

The company is not expecting any more petrol or diesel disruptions in NSW or the ACT but some LPG deliveries have been disrupted there.

LPG supplies have also been affected in South Australia.

Colin Long of the NSW Service Station Association said some stations were starting to run out of certain fuel types and one in the Blue Mountains had run out of everything.

But he said there was no cause for alarm.

"There's no reason to panic buy because we anticipate within a few days those deliveries will be back to normal," he told AAP.

A Cootes spokeswoman could not confirm how many trucks remained off the road.

In a statement she said "once any issues identified have been addressed the vehicles are being returned to service".

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