After days of speculation, Britain put the army on hold to help with the ongoing fuel crisis., given that fears over a shortage of tanker drivers led to panic buying, wiping out many of the country’s bombs.
“A limited number of military tank truck drivers will be put into readiness and deployed if necessary to further stabilize the fuel supply chain,” said the Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy of the Ministry of Energy in a statement issued Monday night.
The Secretary of Commerce, Kwasi Kwarteng, described it as a “prudent and sensible step”, and said the UK had large supplies of fuel.
The measure to mobilize the army comes after a widespread shortage truck drivers, which has caused serious supply problems for retailers and restaurants in recent months, meaning that abundant fuel stocks have not reached service stations.
The excessive purchase of gasoline in fear of a shortage Fuel is causing “really serious problems” at UK service stations, according to an industry spokesman.
In this way, in some service station it has been shoot up the demand by 500% compared to a week ago as oil companies prioritize highway gas stations, according to the Gas Station Retailers Association (PRA).
The alarm went off on Thursday, when the oil company BP announced the temporary closure of “some” establishments in the country given the difficulties in completing gasoline and diesel deliveries due to the lack of drivers.
Unlike the gas shortage that the country suffers – derived from the high prices of raw materials and which has come to paralyze some plants -, the problem with gasoline is almost exclusively due to a shortage of truckers.
Fuel supply crises tend to operate with a perverse mechanism: the more people talk about shortages, the more drivers rush to fill their tanks and the faster the pumps empty.
For this reason, both the Government and the owners of the gas stations today were lavished in appeals to citizens not to refuel emergency unless they need it.
Despite everything, the Minister of Transport, Grant Shapps, had recognized in statements to British media that “does not rule out anything”To ensure the supply, including the recourse to mobilize the military.
“Obviously, if that (going to the Army) is going to help, we will call them. Although there would be technical questions, such as seeing if they can drive commercial trucks, they could play other roles, such as examining and training transporters, “Shapps told the chain. BBC.
The government had already announced plans to issue temporary visas for 5,000 foreign truckers, suspend competition laws and attract former drivers into the industry as part of measures to address the labor shortage.
(With information from AFP and Reuters)
Keep reading: