The British government has put elements of the military trained to drive fuel tankers on alert to mitigate serious supply problems in the fuel retail sector.
Business Minister Kwasi Kwarting announced Monday evening that the “limited number” of tanker drivers in the armed forces are ready Engage in civilian fuel transportation if necessary To stabilize the supply chain. The assigned military drivers will be adequately trained to smoothly perform civilian fuel delivery missions.
It renews automatically
Transport Minister Grant Shapps also announced, Monday evening, that the validity of driver’s licenses for transporting dangerous goods by road, which expire in the coming weeks, will be automatically confirmed by the government. Extended to January 31, 2022, That is, holders of such licenses do not have to leave their jobs to undergo mandatory in-service training every five years. The measure includes licenses to transport dangerous goods that expire between September 27 and December 31.
panic
As a precedent for supply disruptions, a panic-like fuel rush began across the country last week after several major distributors announced they had been forced to close filling stations in the UK. Logistical disruptions caused by chronic shortage of drivers obligatory to.
On Monday, it was difficult to get fuel in many parts of the country, And everywhere, long queues of cars gather in front of gas stations.
The situation is worse in London
And the worst supply disruptions occurred in London: according to industrial sources quoted by the press in the British capital 90% of gas stations are running out of fuel, After that demand jumped six times the usual level.
The British government announced that Relaxes visa rules for foreign truck drivers for some time To alleviate disruption to the food and fuel supply to the population. Under the measure, five thousand foreign truck drivers will, in turn, be able to obtain a temporary work permit in the UK, primarily to drive fuel and food trucks.
However, professional advocacy organizations have called the government’s action wholly inadequate, saying they estimate that the UK shipping sector is missing out on at least 100,000 truck drivers, mainly because so many EU workers have left Britain since British membership in the EU expired. European Union last year (Brexit). .
