Britain says: we'll do whatever it takes to resolve trucker shortage (updated)
24/09/2021 07:36
(Recasts headline and lead)
By Sarah Young and Victor Jack
LONDON, Sept 24 (Reuters) - Britain on Friday vowed to do
whatever it takes to resolve a trucker shortage that has forced
oil giant BP BP.L to close some petrol stations and strained
supermarket supply chains to breaking point.
BP temporarily closed some of its 1,200 UK petrol stations
due to a lack of both unleaded and diesel grades, which it
blamed on driver shortages. ExxonMobil's XOM.N Esso said a
small number of its 200 Tesco Alliance retail sites had also
been impacted. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL8N2QP1HP
"We'll move heaven and earth to do whatever we can to make
sure that shortages are alleviated with HGV drivers," Transport
Secretary Grant Shapps told Sky News.
Suppliers have warned that there could be more shortages of
petrol because of a lack of drivers to transport fuel from
refineries to retail outlets, but Shapps said that government
moves to double the number of lorry driver tests would soon
resolve the crisis.
"Many more tests are being made available now so we should
see it smooth out fairly quickly," he said.
The haulage industry says it currently needs around 90,000
more drivers after some 25,000 returned to Europe before Brexit
and the pandemic halted the qualification process for new
workers in Britain.
Shapps said COVID-19 exacerbated the problem and that
Britain was unable to test 40,000 drivers during lockdowns.
Supermarkets and farmers have called on Britain to ease
shortages of labour in key areas - particularly of truckers,
processing and picking - which have strained the food supply
chain.
(Editing by Guy Faulconbridge)
((sarah.young@thomsonreuters.com; +44 20 7542 1109; Reuters
Messaging: sarah.young.thomsonreuters@reuters.net))