But gasoline pumps have struggled to cope with the large influx unleashed since some dealerships last week reported supply problems due to a lack of up to 100,000 truckers to transport fuel from storage points.
To help the sector, the government formally approved the provision of 150 army drivers, who began training to be deployed in the coming days.
“We have decided to do it and I think that in the next few days people will see the soldiers driving the fleet of tanker trucks,” Enterprise Minister Kwasi Kwarteng told reporters on Wednesday.
Another 150 soldiers are waiting in case they are needed.
But first, the government mobilized its own fleet of tanker trucks, driven by civilians, on Wednesday. “He will be on the road this afternoon to improve fuel delivery at petrol stations across the UK,” the minister tweeted.
“Now we see signs that the situation at the pumps is beginning to improve,” confirmed Shell, BP and 12 other companies and federations in the sector in a joint statement.
Welcoming the deployment of government tanker trucks, they said they were “confident that the situation will stabilize in the coming days.”