Britain pledged on Friday to do everything it can to solve a shortage of truck drivers that has forced oil giant BP to close some petrol stations and strained supermarket supply chains to the breaking point.
Issued on: 09/24/2021 – 10:26
4 minutes
As the world’s fifth-largest economy emerges from the COVID-19 pandemic, a spike in wholesale natural gas prices in Europe and a post-Brexit truck driver shortage have closed some gasoline stations and raised fears of a food supply crisis.
BP has temporarily closed some of its 1,200 UK petrol stations due to a shortage of both grades of unleaded diesel, which it blames on a shortage of drivers. ExxonMobil subsidiary Esso said a small number of Tesco Alliance’s 200 retail sites were also affected.
For months, supermarkets and farmers have warned that a shortage of truck drivers is straining supply chains to the breaking point, making it more difficult to get goods to market.
Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said there was a global shortage of truck drivers after the coronavirus halted testing, so Britain was working to increase the number of tests. Asked whether the government would relax visa rules, he said the government would consider all options.
“We will do whatever it takes,” Shapps told Sky News. “We will move heaven and earth to do everything we can to make sure the shortage of heavy truck drivers is alleviated.”
McDonald’s was forced to remove milkshakes and bottled drinks from the menu at its British restaurants in August, and chicken chain Nando’s ran out of chicken as it battled supply chain issues that have hurt businesses across the economy.
Special visas?
Suppliers have warned of the possibility of further petrol shortages due to a shortage of drivers to transport fuel from refineries to retail outlets, but Shapps said government moves to double the number of tests for truck drivers would soon resolve the crisis.
“A lot of tests are being made available now, so we should see it going very quickly,” he said.
The transport industry says it currently needs around 100,000 extra drivers after around 25,000 drivers returned to Europe before Brexit and the pandemic halted the onboarding process for new workers in Britain.
Shapps said Covid-19 had exacerbated the problem and that Britain had been unable to test 40,000 drivers during the lockdowns.
Trucking industry body the Road Haulage Association has called on the government to allow short-term visas for international drivers to enter Britain and plug the gap, while British drivers are trained for the future.
But any policy change may already be too late to support the run-up to Christmas because the retail industry begins preparing in September and October, and any change to visa rules or increased testing will take some time to take effect.
“It is a massive challenge,” Rod McKenzie, head of policy at the RHA, told Reuters. He said international drivers could help in the short term, even if it was too late to help at Christmas, and in the longer term, the industry needed better wages and conditions to attract workers.
“It is a difficult task. We Britons do not help truck drivers the way the Europeans and Americans do by giving them decent facilities,” he said.
(Reuters)
