Fuel Crisis, potential impact on away travel

I hope the coach can’t get back and they leave them all down in Crawley

 

Sorry, but many people have journeys they have to make and need petrol. My partner is the primary carer for her mum, which means around 100 miles a week without any unforeseen visits. She also has to drive to work twice a week which is around 80, public transport is not viable.

We've made sure we have enough petrol now for the next two weeks. There will be hundreds of thousands of people (if not millions) with similar commitments that need to have fuel.

We are the sixth biggest economy in the world, we c should not be having this discussion.

 

if the co2 issues continue there will be a beer shortage also. it's been getting a bit dicey with our supply down here

 

It’s little to do with an ageing industry, it’s because all the drivers have gone back overseas post brexit/COVID and don’t have visas. That is firmly at the uk governments door.

 

Hauliers figures say only about 20k foreign drivers have left

 

300,000 HGV drivers in the country working in other jobs because the pay and conditions are that bad, 10 hour days and 6 day weeks with 3 nights away with little facilities parked in laybys with no security food or toilet facilities having to guard it through the night because of theft you are liable for and all this for £10 an hour. It is no surprise as other better jobs are available they are leaving,

 

Not what the representative from the National Haulage Association said on the BBC this morning, but I guess bash the government is a better story eh

 

There are far more compelling reasons to not go to VP than a 'fuel crisis'

 

No but its a good get out clause

 

But, our country is dependent upon the road haulage network.

It isn't good enough for the Government to look at the haulier industry and point the finger. It should know the position of, and be intervening, where it is clear an essential market is failing. That is an essential job of Government, to protect the country and its people through prudent risk management.

 

Grant Shapps stated on Question Time on Thursday night that 99% of our HGV drivers are white men over the age of 40. With that, it's obvious that there will be a gradual reduction in those drivers because they are generally at the older end of the age bracket and there will be I'm sure more retiring year-on-year than those obtaining HGV licences and jobs. Another element to consider is that from a demographic perspective there are less white males year on year in the UK due to us becoming a more diverse and multicultural society and therefore more needs to be done to detract the job from being stigmatised as a white man's job. Ultimately, this is incredibly serious as it affects all our daily basic essential needs.

 

They haven't. It was the spokesman for the NHA pointing the figure at his own industry

 

Very balanced Rod !

 

Hgv drivers are not on the essential worker visa list but ballet dancers are! Government messed up, if the hgv driver workforce is ageing why cut off a good supply line from the EU.

This isn’t a few aged guys retiring, it coincides with something….

 

The eu drivers came over here to make money they have now done that and now gone back to their home land to live a better life than before

 

As a hgv driver the main reasons drivers are leaving the job is you are treated like the scum of the earth at alot of companies. At distribution centres if you are late by as little as 15 mins you can get turned away for missing your booking slot, at alot of companies, not all, you only get paid for your driving hours not waiting times. Often you get refused when you ask if you can use the toilets, which is a great feeling knowing you are lower than a dog having to piss or worse at the side of the road, if you make a mistake with your driving hours you can get fined heavily or possibly jailed If the offence is deemed serious enough, also the cpc courses which in alot of cases you have to pay for yourself, all for in some cases a wage which is very little above the national minimum wage

 

Also you can get paid more per hour if you want to stack shelves in a supermarket, after spending alot of money to get qualified to drive a 44 tonne killing machine

 

There is a shortage of drivers worldwide, is Brexit to blame for that. Typically the biased BBC have prattled on all week blaming Brexit.

400,000 drivers needed across Europe
63000 in America
A staggering 4 million in China needed

These figures courtesy of the International Road Transport Union