Delhi, Sep 29: This might sound hard to believe, but is true. In the UK, many petrol pumps are running out of petrol for customers.
The issue is not that the UK is producing less oil.
Once the oil is extracted from the oil well, it is stored and processed in a refinery. After that, it is carried to petrol pumps all over the country using either tankers (special trucks that are used to carry liquid products), trains, or long pipelines.
In the case of UK, there is a shortage of truck drivers who can drive these petrol tankers from the refineries to the petrol stations.
According to the Road Haulage Association of UK, there is a shortage of 6,00,000 drivers in the UK.
As early as June 2021, the Association had warned that there is a shortage of drivers, and this could have an effect on the lives of normal people. In September, that warning has come true for at least one sector.
So, what is causing this shortage?
These are the main reasons why Britain is facing a shortage of heavy goods vehicles (trucks are a type of heavy goods vehicle) drivers:
- Many of them left as a result of Brexit.
- In 2020, because of the lockdown, it was hard for truck drivers to get work. Because of this, many truck drivers left the UK to go back to their own countries.
- The authority that takes the exam for truck drivers, has been closed. So, no new licenses have been issued.
- Truck driving has long hours, and poor pay.
But Britain is not alone. According to Finshots, a publication in India, there are only 750 drivers per 1000 registered trucks in India.