Formal talks will begin later to try to resolve the fuel dispute which led to panic buying at pumps over the past week.
Conciliation service Acas will host talks between Unite union, representing tanker drivers, and seven fuel haulage firms at a secret London location.
Drivers at five of the firms voted to strike in the long-running dispute.
Both sides will focus on a wide range of issues, including safety training and pensions.
They will sit in separate rooms, while a team of Acas conciliators shuttles between them.
Everyone involved says they are hopeful of a resolution, says BBC transport correspondent Richard Westcott.
After the recent panic buying on the forecourts before a strike date had even been announced, motorists will hope so too, he adds.
The seven companies involved in the driver dispute - Wincanton, DHL, BP, Hoyer, JW Suckling, Norbert Dentressangle and Turners - are responsible for supplying 90% of the UK's petrol stations. They also supply the airports.
Workers at DHL and JW Suckling voted against a strike but backed action short of a strike.
The dispute has been ongoing for more than a year, with Unite saying that sub-contracting across the fuel haulage industry is undermining the pay, conditions and safety training of its drivers.
It has called for minimum standards of pay, hours, holiday and redundancy.
The companies say drivers can earn an average of �45,000 a year and that the training is good.
On Monday petrol stations said they were struggling to restock after last week's run on the pumps.
Under rules governing strikes, the union would have to give seven days' notice of any industrial action.
The government has faced widespread criticism for urging motorists to keep their petrol tanks topped up.
Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/int/news/-/news/uk-17606124
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