By Michael Holden
LONDON, Sept 25 (Reuters) - Britain is expected to announce
plans to issue temporary visas to truck drivers to alleviate an
acute labour shortage that has led to fuel rationing at some
filling stations and warnings from retailers https://www.reuters.com/world/uk/britain-resolve-trucker-shortage-swiftly-minister-says-2021-09-24
of significant disruption in the run-up to Christmas.
As queues started forming outside filling stations early on
Saturday, Prime Minister Boris Johnson's office said it was
looking at temporary measures to address the shortage of heavy
goods vehicle (HGV) drivers.
Newspapers reported that the government would allow up to
5,000 foreign drivers into Britain on short-term visas, a
measure that logistics companies and retailers have demanded for
months but which the government had previously ruled out.
The UK's Road Haulage Association (RHA) says Britain needs
100,000 more drivers if it is to meet demand. The driver
shortage has been caused partly by Brexit and COVID-19, and the
loss of about a year of driver training and testing.
"We’re looking at temporary measures to avoid any immediate
problems, but any measures we introduce will be very strictly
time limited," a spokeswoman for Johnson's Downing Street office
said in a statement.
Downing Street declined to give further details.
Ministers have cautioned against panic buying, and oil
companies say there is no shortage of supplies, merely problems
delivering the fuel to the gas stations.
However, long lines of vehicles have begun gathering at
petrol stations to fill up after BP said it had to close
some of its outlets due to the driver shortages.
Some Shell stations have also reported pumps
running dry while ExxonMobil's Esso has also said a
small number of its 200 Tesco Alliance retail sites had also
been impacted in some way.
EG Group, which runs hundreds of forecourts across Britain,
said on Friday it would impose a purchase limit of 30 pounds
($41) per customer for fuel due to the “unprecedented customer
demand”.
"We have ample fuel stocks in this country and the public
should be reassured there are no shortages," the Downing Street
spokeswoman said.
"But like countries around the world we are suffering from a
temporary COVID-related shortage of drivers needed to move
supplies around the country."
The fuel issue comes as Britain, the world's fifth-largest
economy, also grapples with a spike in European natural gas
prices causing soaring energy prices and a potential food supply
crunch.
Other countries such as the United States and Germany are
also dealing with truck driver shortages.
Britain says the long-term solution is for more British
drivers to be hired, with the RHA saying better pay and
conditions are needed to attract people into the industry.
But the retail industry has warned that unless the
government acts to address the shortage in the next 10 days,
then significant disruption is inevitable in the run-up to
Christmas.
($1 = 0.7311 pounds)
(Reporting by Michael Holden and Guy Faulconbridge
Editing by Frances Kerry)
BP (BP.)
