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The military is ready to help ease fuel supply issues after a fourth day of long queues and pump closings.
Up to 150 military tanker drivers will prepare to deliver to forecourts that have dried up due to panic buying.
The increase in demand came amid concerns that a driver shortage could affect the fuel supply, which is plentiful at refineries.
Transportation Secretary Grant Shapps said: “We are starting to see moderate panic buying with more grades of fuel available at more gas stations.”
The UK is estimated to be short of more than 100,000 truckers, which has caused problems for various industries, including food suppliers and supermarkets, in recent months.
The government has blamed people who buy fuel unnecessarily for causing queues at many gas stations with fuel outages in some places.
Automotive group RAC said the price of a liter of unleaded gasoline had risen by a dime since Friday to reach an eight-year high. He added that he was aware that a small number of retailers were raising prices amid rising demand.
Meanwhile, there are growing calls for key workers, such as health and social workers, to be given priority access to fuel where it is available.
Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng said the decision to put the military on hold – meaning it is ready to respond to any request for support – was a “reasonable precautionary measure”.
“If necessary, the deployment of military personnel will provide the supply chain with additional capacity as a temporary measure to help alleviate pressures caused by spikes in localized demand for fuel,” he added.
BBC deputy political editor Vicki Young said she was told 75 first military drivers would be on standby, with up to 150 and the same number of support staff available if needed.
They require specialized training that takes up to five days, she said.
Huw Merriman, Tory MP and chairman of the select transport committee, said the army’s readiness was a “good example” of ministers trying to use as many levers at their disposal as possible; and the troops would be used as a “last resort” if the situation did not stabilize in the coming days.
Mr Merriman told BBC Radio 4’s Today program that the industry needs to explain how it plans to “fix” long-standing driver shortages rather than constantly asking the government to intervene.
“These problems have been around for years because the average driver’s age is 55, they are retiring and the industry has not made the job attractive. For too long the working conditions have been bad, and those who wish to tolerate that it has come from abroad.
He said Brexit and other reasons meant it was now “more attractive” for foreign drivers to work closer to home, and the situation would only improve with better treatment of drivers.
The government has also authorized an extension of special driver’s licenses that allow drivers to carry goods such as fuel.
ADR licenses expiring between September 27 and December 31 will have their validity extended until January 31, 2022, without upgrading or exam.
Labor said the latest response to the fuel crisis was “an admission of failure” and asking the military to strengthen itself was “sticky plaster”.
Major fuel suppliers, including BP and Shell, have sought to reassure the public that supplies are not affected at the source – pressures expected to ease soon.
“As many cars now contain more fuel than usual, we expect demand to return to normal levels in the coming days, easing pressure on gas station forecourts,” they said in a joint press release.
Doctors, nurses, prison staff unions and medical staff have called for essential workers to be given priority for fuel.
The UK Homecare Association said people were left waiting for home caregivers because staff were caught in lines for petrol.
Unison called on ministers to use emergency powers to “designate service stations for the exclusive use of key workers.”
Some ambulance trusts have their own fuel pumps in their depots and their supplies should be a priority – but essential workers can always be caught off guard.
An ambulance driver from north London told the BBC he visited several gas stations in search of fuel.
“I had zero tanks, I was in my reserve, the light was on, it was getting chaotic, my heart rate was going up in the sky,” he said, after finally buying fuel from Brent Cross.
John McSorley, strategic commander of the Yorkshire Ambulance Service NHS Trust, said the service had “sufficient fuel stocks” for its ambulances and “robust business continuity plans” to ensure it could always keep busy patients.
He added that some paramedics had found it “difficult” to obtain fuel for their own cars, and that the trust had a staff transportation plan it could activate “if the situation worsened further.”
Carol Curry, who needed fuel to drive her husband to a hospital appointment, said she blamed the media for the frantic scenes at the pump.
“If nobody had talked about it, the truck drivers and all, then this panic wouldn’t have started,” she said.
The government has temporarily exempted fuel companies from competition law, allowing them to work together to target supplies in areas most in need.
Temporary visas, lasting until Christmas Eve, for 5,000 foreign tanker and food truck drivers and 5,500 poultry workers have also been announced.
But Richard Walker, managing director of Supermarket Iceland, told BBC Two’s Newsnight that visas wouldn’t start until mid-October, adding: “I don’t know who would give up a full-time job in Europe for a few weeks.”
Almost a million drivers qualified to drive heavy goods vehicles are encouraged to return to the sector and some 3,000 new recruits are expected to follow short and intensive driving courses.
Factors such as Brexit, the pandemic, pay levels and an aging workforce have all contributed to a shortage of truck drivers.
After the UK left the European Union, many European drivers returned to their home countries or decided to work elsewhere due to the additional border bureaucracy and the impact it had on their earnings .
The pandemic has also prompted many foreign drivers to return home and caused a huge delay in exams for heavy truck drivers. Driver shortages have also been observed in EU countries, notably in Germany and Poland.
Credit: The BBC
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