LONDON DRIVERS FEEL THE PINCH AS FUEL STATIONS RUN DRY

Sun 26 September 2021:

On Saturday, cars in London waited in long lines for gas and filling stations were jammed with empty pumps as Britain prepared to unveil plans to offer temporary work permits to truck drivers.

The measure would ease an acute labor shortage that has led to fuel rationing throughout the UK.

“Panic. Pure panic,” said taxi driver David Turner. “The radio, television, the media. Seems to suggest there’s not a shortage, but really there isn’t any,” he added.

This is #London at midnight, not #Beirut nor #Tehran where people queue for fuel! #fuelcrisis #UK pic.twitter.com/iiLNAlx8jm

— Rima Maktabi (@rimamaktabi) September 25, 2021

Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s office said it was considering interim measures to solve the shortage of heavy goods vehicle (HGV) drivers as retailers warned of significant disruption in the run-up to Christmas.

Newspapers claimed that the government would allow up to 5,000 foreign drivers into the country on short-term visas, a move that logistics companies and merchants have been calling for for months but that the administration has previously dismissed.

The UK’s Road Haulage Association (RHA) says Britain needs 100,000 more drivers if it is to meet demand.

Shortages of truckers have been caused partly by Brexit and COVID-19, which put a stop to driver training and testing for about a year.

“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 gas stations.

Long lineups of vehicles formed at filling stations as drivers hurried out to fill up, and several forecourts closed as supplies ran out.

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