fuel-finder

Building Fuel Finder UK. Software dev from the UK. Driving a 44-year-old VW campervan called Bernie and refusing to pay motorway prices. [email protected]

[fuel-finder @Fuelfinder_uk]

@thetimes I've geo sanitized these stations to their correct locations, no one's going to drive into the sea if they use https://t.co/F7r4EwGVKs

[fuel-finder @Fuelfinder_uk]

read about it here: https://t.co/mYHHJVffDJ

[fuel-finder @Fuelfinder_uk]

Why should only the big chains have the best tech?

I’ve just rolled out a reporting tool designed specifically for small, independent stations. It’s fast, mobile-friendly, and gets your prices synced with the government scheme in 3 clicks.

Built by one person, for the people who actually run the pumps.

#FuelFinder #FuelPrices #UKSmallBiz #OneManBand

[fuel-finder @Fuelfinder_uk]

New Feature Alert for https://t.co/hUL392EVUR!

I’ve just added a Trip Cost Estimator directly to the station results list.
Now you can see more than just the price at the pump, you can calculate exactly what you'll spend to get there and fill up.

Stop guessing which station is actually the cheapest for your journey. Filter, estimate, and save today.

Check it out now: https://t.co/rThxkJxlXi

#FuelFinder #GasPrices #UKDrivers #TechUpdate #SaveMoney

[fuel-finder @Fuelfinder_uk]

@Wildefish1 had some spare time on my lunch break, was able to get this pushed to live, it's a new filter in the station list called "Est real cost" let me know what you think! it's only a version 1, but hopefully it'll add some real value to people!

[fuel-finder @Fuelfinder_uk]

@Wildefish1 yeah, this is a great suggestion and something I've been toying with implementing, expect to see this feature soon this week!

[fuel-finder @Fuelfinder_uk]

@Wildefish1 in the station list I do publish when the last sync was, it's a green banner with the last sync time, but you're right, I could update the wording to read "price last changed" or something similar, thank for the feed back! as a solo developer this is all super useful, thank you

[fuel-finder @Fuelfinder_uk]

hey, just popping in to clarify, that date is when the station last changed their price, I sync to the government fuel finder database every 5 minutes.
Stations only report a price change, when they change the price, they don't report their price every 30 minutes if it remains unchanged.
Scott.

[fuel-finder @Fuelfinder_uk]

@BBCMorningLive Thanks for featuring the site! I saw a massive surge of nearly 200k requests in just 4 minutes during the segment. The servers took a hit, but I've upgraded to handle the new "BBC Morning Live" audience. I'd love to coordinate for any future segments!😅

[fuel-finder @Fuelfinder_uk]

@priteshpatel9 @BenGrahamUK @Shackviral @UKLabour correct, there is no single gov app, it's a database where all forecourts are required to report thier fuel prices to, it's allowed a solo developer like myself to build a tool that hopefully helps, as well as re-enforcing the existing big players who had their own data streams.

[fuel-finder @Fuelfinder_uk]

@JoshNewburyMP @ukpetrolprices

[fuel-finder @Fuelfinder_uk]

@spursboy1977 @UKLabour @Keir_Starmer @TrisOsborneMP they've exposed an API for developers (like myself) but yes, that does need a free account to be set up, the offer a daily snapshot csv, but prices move very fast!

[fuel-finder @Fuelfinder_uk]

The response to https://t.co/sm6638hsUt this week has been mental. It’s cool seeing MPs and journalists share the link, but I’ve been catching a lot of heat for things I can’t actually control, so I’m setting the record straight.

​I’m a solo developer. I built this for £0 in my spare time. I’m not the government, and I’m not that £2m project people are talking about. I'm just trying to make a messy data feed readable for normal people.

​The site is a live mirror. If a price looks wrong, it’s usually because a station hasn't reported it or there’s a technical glitch in the government's own system. I’ve added a "Price last reported" date under every number so you can see exactly how fresh the data is.

​I like the analogy that the first plane was slower than a horse and it crashed a lot, but it was still the future. Open data is in its "first flight" stage, it’s a bit messy right now, but it’s going to change how we all save money in the long run.

​Searching and comparing prices is free. No ads and no forced sign-ups because I hate that stuff. I did add a £1.99 pro tier for push notifications to help cover the server costs of syncing the API every 5 minutes so the site stays reactive.

​It's been a weird week taking the flak for a national rollout, but the support from people defending the site has been massive. I certainly can't afford a full time social media person to post constantly.
Back to the code. ✌🏻
​#FuelFinder #FuelPrices

[fuel-finder @Fuelfinder_uk]

@Sam_in_Cam me on my way to fill up.

[fuel-finder @Fuelfinder_uk]

I guess i should rebrand as "field finder" 👀 just wanted to pop by and say that my site isn't the government fuel app, Its a mirror of the official government feed, I'll look into this specific site, but I suspect the station has entered their lat lon incorrectly,
Scott - the solo developer behind https://t.co/sm6638hsUt

[fuel-finder @Fuelfinder_uk]

The response to https://t.co/sm6638hsUt this week has been mental. It’s cool seeing MPs and journalists share the link, but I’ve been catching a lot of heat for things I can’t actually control, so I’m setting the record straight.

​I’m a solo developer. I built this for £0 in my spare time. I’m not the government, and I’m not that £2m project people are talking about. I'm just trying to make a messy data feed readable for normal people.

​The site is a live mirror. If a price looks wrong, it’s usually because a station hasn't reported it or there’s a technical glitch in the government's own system. I’ve added a "Price last reported" date under every number so you can see exactly how fresh the data is.

​I like the analogy that the first plane was slower than a horse and it crashed a lot, but it was still the future. Open data is in its "first flight" stage, it’s a bit messy right now, but it’s going to change how we all save money in the long run.

​Searching and comparing prices is free. No ads and no forced sign-ups because I hate that stuff. I did add a £1.99 pro tier for push notifications to help cover the server costs of syncing the API every 5 minutes so the site stays reactive.

​It's been a weird week taking the flak for a national rollout, but the support from people defending the site has been massive. I certainly can't afford a full time social media person to post constantly.
Back to the code. ✌🏻
​#FuelFinder #FuelPrices

[fuel-finder @Fuelfinder_uk]

@EvoAngelic @JoStevensLabour Thank you! 🙌 It's been a wild week taking the heat for the government's data glitches.
I really appreciate you taking the time to read the site and having my back!

[fuel-finder @Fuelfinder_uk]

I completely agree that the £2m taxpayer cost for the government's scheme is frustrating. To be totally clear, I have absolutely no connection to the government, I'm just a solo developer self-funding this site to make their raw open-data feed readable. Taking the public flak for a £2m government rollout has definitely been an unexpected plot twist for my week! You're completely right the data is flawed right now. As the app notes under the price, that specific Esso hasn't updated the government API since January 27th. Hopefully, they'll improve the feed soon so we can all rely on it.

[fuel-finder @Fuelfinder_uk]

@srgshaw_shaw @paullewismoney Just to step in here, the site pulls the latest data from the government database every 15 minutes, if a station hasn't published their prices via the scheme, it won't show on the site.