[Jhinchak]

Looks like the number of local brits who are truckers are bare minimum. If they were not dependent on foreign drivers to this extent, we wouldn't have heard about this news.

[comfortablynumb]

Originally Posted by Samurai

Sounds like a brilliant idea, they should think about it.

Looks like Sir Humphrey Appleby's (and Britain's) strategy failed spectacularly this time :

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=37iHSwA1SwE

[arpanguha]

Seeing this crisis build up over the weeks, it looks like a self fulfilling prophecy.
Factors that caused this manufactured crisis were as follows:
1. Some newspapers, like the mail, sun, etc. scare mongering and egging people on with headlines like "Winter of crisis and shortage", caused the run on the pumps, causing a stretched but sustainable gas supply to dry up.
2. UK's reliance on Russia as primary supplier, who has tapered down supplies recently for political and other reasons.
3. UK not having any major storage facility. Where European countries store upto 33% of their annual demand as backup, UK mothballed their major North Sea storage 2.5 years back and has hardly 2-3% of its annual demand storage capacity.
4. Transport shortage: This is an eyewash to show people something is being done.
There are around 10000 HGV applications pending with DVLA for past 2 years, without processing those, no amount of temporary visas and alluring offers of upto £70k salaries would actually be able to get HGVs on road.
5. Finally political apathy, kowtowing to private firms and in fighting has made the ministers loose the plot.

Owing to this crisis, fuel prices have gone up by 20 over a week. Petrol which was selling £1.32/litre is now at £1.55 at some pumps. Huge queues are forming causing traffic, people beating each other up over queuing and all kinds of anarchy.

The government and MSM are trying very hard to distract people by letting movements like Insulate Britain disrupt life, Christmas gifts/supply shortages and drumming up the migrant crisis. But, with growing discontent among people this might end up being a pretty bad scenario for them.

[nettooran]

I fulfilled my 20 year old urge this year and got my Heavy license. But now I have no idea how to put that in use. I work in IT and have been reaching out to friends to put me through to truck guys to let me drive for them part time.(I don't even want to be paid) . Have been unsuccessful till date.

Btw, the only heavy vehicle I have driven is my driving school bus. But I have no dearth of confidence. . Do they offer temporary visas to freshers ...

[som9729]

Originally Posted by SnS_12

Labour shortages due to new immigration rules and the lingering effects of the pandemic, soaring wholesale European natural gas prices have sent shockwaves through energy, chemicals and steel producers, and have strained supply chains.

There was a joke going around of a truck driver who spent 5 hours around London to get fuel and people said instead he should have sat at home and he would have had 5 hours of fuel left with him..

More than that, its about working conditions.
In the UK, truck drivers are looked down upon.
There aren't any good infra options (like toilets, etc) for truckers in the UK
Pay is Low

Therefore, there are many brit & Eastern European truckers in Western EU, where the pay & infra is pretty good.

Moral of the story is not to take blue collar workers for granted.
Lockdown made us Indians realise the value of a maid.

Hopefully, such incidents will make society realise the importance of the avgrage workin' Blue collar guy!

Example - https://www.kentlive.news/news/kent-...-kents-5971366

[Samurai]

Originally Posted by som9729

Hopefully, such incidents will make society realise the importance of the avgrage workin' Blue collar guy!

Example - https://www.kentlive.news/news/kent-...-kents-5971366

Thanks for sharing. I think India has a similar problem. We don't treat Truck drivers with the respect they deserve. Without them the whole economy will grind to a halt.

[som9729]

Originally Posted by Samurai

Thanks for sharing. I think India has a similar problem. We don't treat Truck drivers with the respect they deserve. Without them the whole economy will grind to a halt.

Yup!
Applies to all blue collar/street vendor/kirana shop owner/mechanic/puncture shop/veggie-bandi type people also!

Most importantly, it also applies to all Chinese Bandi operators too!!!!!!!!!!!!!
To be politically correct, after the Galwan clashes, are Chinese bandis now known as Himalayan food bandis?

Basically, dignity of labour is an essential theme here, which in India is still sadly lacking, although improving!

I've seen an IBM guy (with a lanyard ID card) doing Swiggy Deliveries after office hours late night!
Recently, I met an UrbanClap barber who had a salon but had to close due to lack of revenue & had a 1.5lac loan which he's unable to pay etc.

All sorts of people in the wide world!
Lets respect them!


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[Ragul]

Originally Posted by Samurai

Thanks for sharing. I think India has a similar problem. We don't treat Truck drivers with the respect they deserve. Without them the whole economy will grind to a halt.

Something tells me they (UK) never will and accelerate deployment of EV cars and charging stations in the few years...

[nightraven]

Originally Posted by Ragul

Something tells me they (UK) never will and accelerate deployment of EV cars and charging stations in the few years...

Reports suggest that due to the crisis there is an increased surge in demand for EVs. Fingers crossed if that turns in to sustainable long term sales or not.

[KGS]

This is completely a media created problem. A reporter named Phil McCann (I promise this is his real name and apt for such reporting) was trying to be hyper active and gain some brownie points from his employer for some investigative reporting. He reported that with Driver issues, there is a shortage of fuel in some areas. However in reality there wasn't such a great crisis. All the major outlets were getting fuels as per normal delivery schedule and world was going fine.

But the moment everyone heard this news, they made sure shortage is there. People started filling their tanks to brim, Cans, lawn mowers, water bottles and what not. A lady was seen filling the water bottles.

In London this is an issue now. Taxi driver and other important services are getting impacted, however in smaller towns there is no problem. Pumps are now limiting sale to £30 per user. This is helping in rationing the fuel to the needy. Only exception allowed is for emergency services.

If people become sensible enough to fill only the required fuel, things will settle quickly.

Brits are also quick enough to point the usual tactic used by Boris Johnson to resolve such issues. He never take any step and such issues die on their own.

Personally, as I am working from home and have around half tank of fuel in my car, I am fine for next month also.

[Mafia]

This is just one aspect of the bigger picture. The Bits just have to do the jobs that they were not ready to do before.

It will be a troubled couple of years for the UK. Things will eventually sort out or the 'Leaders' will cave in a give out more visas.

All countries that depended on ex-pats to do the jobs they are not ready to do will face this.

Even in the Middle East, we can see this. In fact it is more pronounced as many parts of large cities are vacant as ex-pats are being forced to leave.

[amey910]

Originally Posted by nettooran

I fulfilled my 20 year old urge this year and got my Heavy license. But now I have no idea how to put that in use. I work in IT and have been reaching out to friends to put me through to truck guys to let me drive for them part time.(I don't even want to be paid) . Have been unsuccessful till date.

Btw, the only heavy vehicle I have driven is my driving school bus. But I have no dearth of confidence. . Do they offer temporary visas to freshers ...

I am in a similar boat. Got my license from BEST(Mumbai's local bus service) in Dec 2019. I have pestering my friends too but to no avail. The first thought that came to my mind after reading this was the same. If any Bhpian wants a truck driver pls DM me.

[adi.mariner]

All the supply-chain workers have been neglected during the multiple lockdowns and priority in vaccinations. One of my colleagues had to spend 14 days in quarantine in UAE, then 7 days in Bahrain and 7 days more in Saudi Arabia before he could actually board a ship at which point of time his actual contract started. There are going to be many such incidents if travel restrictions aren't eased up.
This article on CNN just brushes the tip of the iceberg.
https://www.cnn.com/2021/09/29/busin...ers/index.html

[Electromotive]

Supply chain disruptions have now become a global issue. Due to the pandemic a lot of blue collar workers discovered how underpaid they have been. When unemployment benefits pay more than your regular pre-covid job, why would you want to return to your old job?

Minimum wage hike is already happening but that also means the cost will be passed onto consumers resulting in inflation which might negate the benefit of wage hike. This is especially hard for minimum wage workers since inflation will outpace wake hike and they might find themselves poorer still.

When the main source of wealth creation is capital gains from stock markets, those without savings and capital investments are fighting a losing battle.

Originally Posted by Samurai

Thanks for sharing. I think India has a similar problem. We don't treat Truck drivers with the respect they deserve. Without them the whole economy will grind to a halt.

Originally Posted by som9729

Yup!Applies to all blue collar/street vendor/kirana shop owner/mechanic/puncture shop/veggie-bandi type people also!

Thank you for saying this.
We have a cultural problem of looking down on people who do jobs that don't pay well. We have become a society where we value people based on their net worth, color of skin or even the ability to read/write English.

The garbage collectors and sewage workers provide a valuable service but are looked down upon. They are never provided with proper safety gear and they risk their lives to unblock sewer pipes. Same for electricians contracted out by power distribution companies. These people risk their lives and they do so without proper safety gear and are paid very poorly. And the govt. won't pass regulation for proper safety gear and training because we are a society that doesn't value the lives of the poor be it the truck drivers, sanitation workers, electricians, road sweepers or house maids.

[v1p3r]

After having lived there for the better part of a decade, it has always amazed me that a country full of idiots managed to rule most of the discovered world at one point in time.

I have a few friends whose parents are/were European lorry drivers between the EU and the UK. They have led comfortable lives, growing up in the UK while their fathers drive from Poland and Romania. The British, of course, couldn't be bothered to do a job that has isn't either white-collar or very high-paying, so everyone else did it for them when the EU was one big happy family.

This shortage of HGV drivers is only the beginning. Nearly every shop assistant, construction worker, house cleaner, maintenance worker is eastern European. Once the borders close, the British will be forced to scrub their own toilets.