FUEL SPEED AHEAD? NO, NOT A HOPE
EU drivers won’t be on road until
THOUSANDS of EU lorry drivers that the Government is banking on to avert Christmas shortages are unlikely to be on the roads until mid-November.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced that 5000 foreign truckers would be offered the right to work in the UK for up to three months.
But reports say the time taken to get the scheme running and for hauliers to recruit and prepare drivers means it could take six or seven weeks until they are operating.
However, the temporary visas are due to expire less than six weeks later, on Christmas Eve.
“To call it a three-month scheme is disingenuous,” the boss of a major UK haulier told trade magazine The Grocer.
The delay is in part due to having to select firms to process driver applications.
It is feared the driver shortage – estimated at 100,000 across the UK – could hit supplies of everything from food to toys in the run-up to Christmas.
A Government spokesperson said: “This is a global problem and we have been working closely with industry for months to understand how we can boost recruitment.”
It came as the Reserve Tanker Fleet of lorries took to the road yesterday to try to tackle the fuel crisis.
The Government’s fleet of 80 road tankers is stationed at Fenstanton, Cambridgeshire, and Bradford, Yorkshire.
Elsewhere, troops will begin training to help deliver petrol supplies.
A decision to put 150 military drivers on standby has been formally approved, meaning they can begin training in case they are required.
Panic-buying across Scotland appeared to have eased again yesterday but plenty of filling stations were reporting no or low levels of petrol and diesel.
The situation varied across the country but things are expected to improve in the coming days as supplies are delivered from the refinery at Grangemouth.
Deputy First Minister John Swinney said the Scottish Government is monitoring the situation closely.
Its resilience group, which includes emergency services and councils, met yesterday afternoon.
He said he would “take steps” to ensure emergency personnel have priority access to petrol and diesel, if needed.
Swinney insisted there is “an adequate supply of fuel to meet normal levels of demand,” adding, “The question hinges on that being able to be distributed to where it is required.”
He said the UK Government’s decision to put military drivers on standby to deliver fuel “may well be helpful”.
Industry giants including
Shell, BP and Esso agreed that the crisis was stabilising. In a joint statement, they said: “While there has always been plenty of fuel at our refineries and terminals, we are also now seeing signs that the situation at the pumps has begun to improve. “We remain confident that the situation will stabilise further in the coming days.” The Petrol Retailers Association, which represents two-thirds of UK filling stations, said the situation was “easing”. Executive director Gordon Balmer said: “Only 27 per cent of PRA members have reported being out of fuel today.” Keir Starmer yesterday tore into Johnson’s handling of the HGV driver shortage and the fuel crisis.
Speaking at Labour’s conference in Brighton, the party leader attacked the PM’s “levelling-up” slogan.
He said: “If you go outside and walk along the seafront, it won’t be long before you come to a petrol station which has no fuel. Level up? You can’t even fill up.”
Drivers are being warned fuel prices could reach record levels, even if the current crisis ends.
The RAC said average prices may hit 143p per litre for petrol and 145p per litre for diesel in the next few weeks.
That is up from 135p per litre for petrol and 138p per litre for diesel currently.
RAC fuel spokesman Simon Williams said it was “being driven by what’s happening with the cost of oil, not by the recent delivery issues”.