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Petrol station in Liverpool
Photo: Peter Byrne / AP
The shortage of truck drivers - also caused by the exit from the EU - continues to cause problems for the economy and consumers in Great Britain.
Numerous gas station operators have restricted operations at dozen of locations.
The problem: There is a lack of qualified drivers who could drive tank trucks with supplies.
According to a report in the "Times", the government in London is therefore discussing an emergency plan (click here for the article).
The name: "Operation Escalin".
According to the cabinet, the plan arose to use soldiers to deliver fuel to gas stations, the army should be ready for it.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson appealed to the British not to buy hamsters.
Do companies just have to pay drivers more?
The problem: within the Cabinet of Ministers there are apparently significant differences on how to deal with the truck crisis that has been smoldering in the United Kingdom since Brexit. Because of the exit from the EU, tens of thousands of mostly Eastern European drivers are missing. This has already led to empty supermarket shelves. Different proposed solutions are being discussed: Environment Minister George Eustice has proposed opening the labor market to foreign truck drivers. Economy Minister Kwasi Kwarteng is against it, however. His position: the companies should pay drivers more, then the problem will be solved.
The BP group restricted the supply of dozen of its approximately 1200 gas stations in the United Kingdom.
According to the Times, at least one fuel is missing at at least 50 BP locations.
Esso and Tesco gas stations are also affected.
The British media quoted the responsible BP manager Hanna Hofer as saying that the situation was "bad, very bad."
At a meeting with government officials, Hofer stated that the company only had two-thirds of the normal tank inventory "required for smooth operation" - and that this figure was declining "very quickly".
According to the Road Haulage Association, there is a shortage of at least one hundred thousand truck drivers in Great Britain.
In addition to the tightened immigration rules after Brexit, the corona pandemic was also to blame because fewer young drivers had been trained.
trembling
