Long queues and panic in front of petrol stations Where has the fuel disappeared in Britain?

The government has written to more than one million drivers with heavy truck driving licenses urging them to return to work, and has loosened the rules for drivers' working hours, so that drivers are able to increase their daily driving time from 9 hours to 11 hours twice a week.

The Association of Fuel Sellers says that dozens of its stations are suffering from a drought of fuel, while the government denies the existence of any shortage in the country (French)

LONDON - In unprecedented scenes, long queues of British cars stand in front of petrol stations, perhaps finding a station where fuel is still, after a number of stations announced the closure of their doors due to the lack of gasoline, which led to a state of panic among drivers.

Fuel distribution companies justify this situation by the shortage of drivers for large trucks.

Professional associations of large truck drivers estimate that there is a shortage of more than 100,000 drivers in the UK, out of a total of 600,000 drivers.

This figure includes tens of thousands of drivers from European Union countries who are unable to return to the country due to visa procedures for foreign workers after Brexit.

Before the Corona epidemic, there was talk of a shortage in the number of truck drivers by about 60,000 drivers, to worsen the situation after the epidemic due to Brexit and the return of more than one million foreign workers to their countries, which means a shortage in the number of drivers that may reach 200 thousand.

In a letter addressed to the British Prime Minister last June, representatives of truck drivers said that the pandemic had caused the suspension of truck driver’s license exams, which led to a decrease in the number of candidates for driving exams by more than 25,000, compared to 2019.

How long does it take to make up for this deficiency?

All warnings indicate that Christmas may be the worst in the country's history since World War II, due to the shortage that the markets will witness in this period of unprecedented demand for consumption.

According to an opinion poll of the British Road Transport Association, it may take a month to make up for only 20% of this shortfall.

According to the same association, it will take about two months to make up for between 30% and 40% of the shortage of drivers, which means reaching the Christmas period and continuing the same shortage, and this is in response to the British government, which says that the internal market is able to compensate for this shortage in the coming weeks.

What actions did the government take?

The British Ministry of Defense has called in its technicians to increase the number of heavy truck driving tests, in addition to intensive and free training camps for 3,000 people, and another thousand are being trained with funding from the adult education program.

The government has also written to more than a million drivers holding heavy truck driving licenses urging them to return to work, and has relaxed the rules for drivers' working hours, so that the driver will be able to increase the daily driving time from 9 hours to 11 hours twice a week.

For its part, the companies launched financial stimulus, as the “Ocado” company for freight and goods delivery (Ocado) announced incentives worth 5 million pounds ($ 6.8 million) for the benefit of its drivers, and the Tesco group, which is considered one of the largest The country's commercial chains are offering rewards of up to £1,000 for their drivers.

Is there a shortage of fuel in the country?

Government data issued by the Ministry of Transport confirm that there is no shortage of fuel in the country, in response to the panic that hit the British to fill the tanks of their cars and line up in long queues in front of gas stations.

According to British Transport Minister Grant Shapps, the country has sufficient quantities of fuel, distributed in 6 oil refineries and more than 47 storage centers in different regions of the country. In contrast, the Fuel Vendors Association says that between 50 and 90 of its stations are suffering from a drought of fuel. Due to the lack of the necessary amount of this substance.

How did the panic erupt in front of petrol stations?

The British government accuses the Road Transport Association of causing the panic, when it announced that there would be a severe fuel shortage due to the unavailability of large truck drivers.

The government says that this shortage is not new, and what has changed is the association's leakage of information about a significant shortage of fuel truck drivers, which has caused panic and an unprecedented turnout at gas stations.

This leak enters a bone-breaking battle between the government and major trucking companies who want to facilitate the return of European drivers, while the government wants to preserve these job opportunities for the British, but the companies fear that British labor will be more expensive than its European counterpart.

Has the government succumbed to the demands of major truck companies?

The government announced measures to grant temporary visas, which will last until Christmas Eve, for 5,000 truck drivers and 5,500 workers in the poultry sector, in an attempt to reduce the effects of the shortage of drivers until Christmas, a number less than expected and what is required by the country's fuel sales companies, which She announced that this decision will not solve the problem and will not have an impact on eliminating car queues in front of petrol stations.

The government also promised that it would raise the number of driving tests for large trucks to 50,000 a year, to fill the gap in this field.

Are sectors other than petrol stations affected?

The Bank of England had previously warned in the summer of this year that the shortage of drivers would affect the food market, electronic equipment and the automotive sector, and the food company, Morrison, announced that this situation would lead to a rise in food prices.

The soft drink companies, led by Coca-Cola, announced that the British market would witness the disappearance of a number of drinks, and the McDonald's restaurant group announced that it was no longer able to provide a number of juices and soft drinks to its customers.