Well done the BBC

[clarinetbcn]

Not just EU. There’s also a truck driver shortage in USA and Canada, leading to gas stations running out of fuel and higher fuel prices, been going on a while.

My family lives in Toronto and I’m currently visiting. No gas shortages or lines, no recent noticeable price hikes. I just asked them, they say it’s not happening.

 

[WelshGas]

My family lives in Toronto and I’m currently visiting. No gas shortages or lines, no recent noticeable price hikes. I just asked them, they say it’s not happening.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/prince-edward-island/pei-gas-stations-no-fuel-1.6154834

 

[bob_summers]

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/prince-edward-island/pei-gas-stations-no-fuel-1.6154834

that’s a month old. CBC is now reporting on UK issues.

 

[Velma's Dad]

Grant Shapps effectively said, "there's a bear in the corner of the room, don't look at it!" and I'd suggest most of the blame for this should be levelled at him.

Completely agree with that.

Yes a minority of people are a bit unhinged, queuing up to brim their tanks every time they've used five litres. BUT for many (most?) people, trying to get ahead of the game was completely rational once there were credible rumours of a run on the pumps, especially if they needed to be sure they have enough fuel to get to work or wherever they need to be on Monday morning.

The underlying issue - the HGV driver shortage generally whether or not actually of tanker drivers - is the root cause of this weekend's fuel panic. Did the government do anything like enough to get ahead of the general problem, when it became clear several months back? No, not in my view.

But now, this morning on Marr, Shapps declined to rule out bringing in the Army this week to (presumably) drive tankers? FFS.

But blaming the media for all this is utterly pointless, IMO.

 

[Digger]

So they should censor the news they give, when they hear a report such as this and they should choose not to report it ?.. is that not a dangerous slippery slope, as we have someone deciding what we should or should not hear .. they just reported what they heard. Fundamentally the haulage industry has been warning about this for months, the government has ignored that advice, blaming all this on the BBC is not where all the blames lies

A picture tells it all

 

[clarinetbcn]

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/prince-edward-island/pei-gas-stations-no-fuel-1.6154834

Total population of Prince Edward Island, 150,000. Total population of Canada, 37 million, 1 in 5 of whom live in Toronto. The irony of using this article to support a misleading statement that there are fuel shortages in Canada, on a thread which discusses misleading headlines of the BBC, is priceless.

 

[WelshGas]

that’s a month old. CBC is now reporting on UK issues.

And the fact that they had problems in Canada that appear to be resolving is of no significance. Your point is?

 

[WelshGas]

Total population of Prince Edward Island, 150,000. Total population of Canada, 37 million, 1 in 5 of whom live in Toronto. The irony of using this article to support a misleading statement that there are fuel shortages in Canada, on a thread which discusses misleading headlines of the BBC, is priceless.

So your family were not aware of these problems elsewhere in Canada.

Priceless. So glad they are so well informed. As you obviously are.

 

[WelshGas]

Completely agree with that.

Yes a minority of people are a bit unhinged, queuing up to brim their tanks every time they've used five litres. BUT for many (most?) people, trying to get ahead of the game was completely rational once there were credible rumours of a run on the pumps, especially if they needed to be sure they have enough fuel to get to work or wherever they need to be on Monday morning.

The underlying issue - the HGV driver shortage generally whether or not actually of tanker drivers - is the root cause of this weekend's fuel panic. Did the government do anything like enough to get ahead of the general problem, when it became clear several months back? No, not in my view.

But now, this morning on Marr, Shapps declined to rule out bringing in the Army this week to (presumably) drive tankers? FFS.

But blaming the media for all this is utterly pointless, IMO.

You haven’t blamed the U.K. government for the HGV driver shortages in Poland, Germany and other EU countries that has also been growing since 2018 and which has not been helped by those 1000s of EU HGV drivers that returned after Brexit .
Your slipping.

 

[WelshGas]

Truck driver shortage a worldwide phenomenon - Truck News

Fleets are struggling to hire the truck drivers they need despite economic slowdowns associated with Covid-19, and not just in Canada. The IRU -- an

www.trucknews.com

 

[Velma's Dad]

You haven’t blamed the U.K. government for the HGV driver shortages in Poland, Germany and other EU countries that has also been growing since 2018 and which has not been helped by those 1000s of EU HGV drivers that returned after Brexit .
Your slipping.

I didn't blame the government for the HGV driver shortage. I blamed them for knowing there was a big problem coming and not doing enough to fix it. The temporary visa scheme for foreign drivers could have been put in place, at greater scale, months ago. The government allowed a serious but predictable problem become a crisis.

 

[clarinetbcn]

So your family were not aware of these problems elsewhere in Canada.

Priceless. So glad they are so well informed. As you obviously are.

….just a sec while I cinch up my Flying Goal Post protection suit…ok. It comes with both STRAWMAN(TM) and STAYOFFMYLAWN!(TM) noise canceling technology.

 

[bob_summers]

And the fact that they had problems in Canada that appear to be resolving is of no significance. Your point is?

My point is that you don't have one. Yer Maun up there said there were no problems at gas stations in Toronto. For some reason youve posted a link to a month old article you haven't read, about late fuel delivery somewhere else in Canada, where there weren't any queues or panic buying. It appears to have lasted a day.

"We kind of bank on the ones that come and get their fuel, and come in and get other things while they're here. And of course, they're pulling in, they're seeing that we have no fuel, and they're just driving away."

Yep that sounds like what we're seeing in the UK.

But you crack on fella.

 

[LowMan]

Question to the mods. Can we have a new forum category on here? "Latest self-inflicted UK woes conspiracy theorists can blame on the BBC...". Ta very much x

 

[Velma's Dad]

I didn't blame the government for the HGV driver shortage. I blamed them for knowing there was a big problem coming and not doing enough to fix it. The temporary visa scheme for foreign drivers could have been put in place, at greater scale, months ago. The government allowed a serious but predictable problem become a crisis.

And just to expand on that... here's an article from a couple of weeks ago that explains how Brexit has critically hamstrung the UK haulage sector's resilience to the Europe-wide (and beyond) shortage of drivers.

https://trans.info/en/there-s-a-eur...o-uk-supply-chains-seem-more-disrupted-254524

("Cabotage" is the use of third-country drivers for inter or intra-national haulage, which serves to balance supply and demand for drivers and loads across the EU. As a non-EU member, and ideologically resistant to allowing foreign drivers to operate here even in an emergency situation, the UK is not in a position to utilise that trading bloc mechanism.)

Must dig around tomorrow for my old HGV licence that's in a drawer somewhere.

 

[WelshGas]

I didn't blame the government for the HGV driver shortage. I blamed them for knowing there was a big problem coming and not doing enough to fix it. The temporary visa scheme for foreign drivers could have been put in place, at greater scale, months ago. The government allowed a serious but predictable problem become a crisis.

All we will be doing is robbing Peter to pay Paul.. There is a larger shortage in continental Europe.

 

[WelshGas]

And just to expand on that... here's an article from a couple of weeks ago that explains how Brexit has critically hamstrung the UK haulage sector's resilience to the Europe-wide (and beyond) shortage of drivers.

https://trans.info/en/there-s-a-eur...o-uk-supply-chains-seem-more-disrupted-254524

("Cabotage" is the use of third-country drivers for inter or intra-national haulage, which serves to balance supply and demand for drivers and loads across the EU. As a non-EU member, and ideologically resistant to allowing foreign drivers to operate here even in an emergency situation, the UK is not in a position to utilise that trading bloc mechanism.)

Must dig around tomorrow for my old HGV licence that's in a drawer somewhere.

A 2 week old article, @clarinetbcn and @Bob_summers won’t be happy with that.

 

[icic]

All we will be doing is robbing Peter to pay Paul.. There is a larger shortage in continental Europe.

So what’s your suggestions that might fix this issue with HGV drivers ?

 

[bob_summers]

A 2 week old article, @clarinetbcn and @Bob_summers won’t be happy with that.

At least it's geographically relevant.


Shortage of 15,000 drivers here in Spain, 40% of current drivers will retire within 5 years so the problem is only going to get worse.

However, neither supermarkets nor gas stations are dry, which suggests to me that there is not "a larger shortage in continental Europe"

 

[Joker 1299]

There is no shortage of LGV drivers. There is a shortage of common sense.

 

[willwander]

So what’s your suggestions that might fix this issue with HGV drivers ?

Free Yorkie bars

 

[WelshGas]

Another example of the BBC being less than accurate with the TV/Radio news that people watch/listen to.
When reporting Covid 19 stats they state the number of new infections, and weekly average, the number of new deaths, and the weekly average and the number/ of people vaccinated BUT never the number of hospital admissions. Yes, the information is on the website so why not mention it.

 

[WelshGas]

So what’s your suggestions that might fix this issue with HGV drivers ?

Common Sense on behalf of the Public?

There is no quick fix for any country, but maybe the Public will now realise they are key workers and should have better working conditions and pay.
HGV drivers average pay £28,000/pa, London Tube train driver average pay £55,000/pa and he doesn't have a steering wheel.

 

[bob_summers]

Pity Bob Crow died then, would do a good job in charge if the lorry drivers unioned up

 

[WelshGas]

At least it's geographically relevant.


Shortage of 15,000 drivers here in Spain, 40% of current drivers will retire within 5 years so the problem is only going to get worse.

However, neither supermarkets nor gas stations are dry, which suggests to me that there is not "a larger shortage in continental Europe"

Data from 2020 shows Germany short of 45,00-65,000 drivers, while in Poland, whose population is just over 50% of the UK's, the number is almost 124,000.

My simple schoolboy maths makes that just under a 190,000 driver shortage in 2 EU countries, or 205,000 if you include Spain.

People & Profit - Truck driver shortage: How a lack of hauliers is hurting the economy

A global shortage of truck drivers is hitting supplies of everyday goods. It's a particular problem in the United Kingdom, where many drivers are EU nationals. But what's the situation across the rest…

www.france24.com