The reason the UK has a truck driver crisis

Despite the Tory politicians’ mantra, the rest of Europ isn’t experiencing a driver shortage, empty shelves and fuel problems. Here’s a Polish trucker’s explanation why.

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And here’s a Spanish trucker expressing the same thing….including a hatred of UK roads.

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That says it all.

Of course there’s a shortage in Europe -

The UK’s problem is just far worse due to Brexit, poor pay and poor facilities.

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I saw it explained that there is about a 10% shortage of drivers in Europe but about 30% shortage in UK which is why the problems are significantly worse in UK.

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But ‘they’ will not admit to this!

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Any empty shelves in you neck of the woods Tim? Queues at petrol stations? Shortages of sewage treatment chemicals?

Well the Express :scream: At least they lead with Brexit as an issue. But, I don’t care if there’s a shortage of drivers once it doesn’t impact me. I am sure there are shortages of loads of things and loads of skills that all get sorted out without impact on the man/woman in the street. What pisses me off is that the Government is blaming a phenomenon that is having zero impact in the EU for causing major disruption in the UK.

I have watched this diversionary strategy for years on our good old BBC. The first time was when I was living in Grenoble in '81 or '82 and I was back in the UK for a couple of days. They reported some scare in Sellafield and immediately afterwards reported some “worse” scare in Grenoble’s nuclear plant. I got back home to Grenoble expecting panic in the streets but no, it was all exaggerated BBC diversionary propaganda. I’ve watched out for it ever since and I haven’t been disappointed. Disruption in Heathrow? No worries there’s worse disruption in Bongo Bongo land. Chaos in Dover? No worries worse chaos in Calais, Rotterdam, Bruges, Athens, Durban, anywhere, for God’s sake anywhere :grinning_face_with_smiling_eyes:

Now the Government is just doing the same, we have completely screwed up UK logistics but… it’s happening everywhere so not our fault. No it’s bloody well not happening everywhere but the monoglot cretins reading the Telegraph, Mail and Express believe it.

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I was merely re-buffing your false claim that there are no HGV driver shortages in Europe, your zeal to knock the UK at all times often gets in the way of the truth. :wink:

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Apart from the truth of much of the report, the Spanish driver is not just complaining about UK roads, he is also criticising French facilities too, and is not alone in that amongst Spanish and Portuguese drivers. He didn’t need to spend time in a lay by near Chartres, there are numerous off autoroute facilities in France, they just don’t like to use them. There are exceptions, just south of Poitiers for instance where there is a large place where Iberians do congregate, but in general other European drivers do not want, or cannot afford, to mix with their French colleagues.
Strange though that this, brief, UK visit, where he did find good facilities, is used to take a stick to the UK in general. A shame too, as there is much that is wrong with commercial driving in the UK today.

I have to admit Tim that I see no good whatsoever in the current Tory regime, In fact I despise them, From Johnson, to Patel to Truss and all the other deceitful crew who couldn’t give a monkey’s. But don’t conflate my desire to expose the regime with knocking the UK. I don’t think I’ve ever written a word knocking the UK, the UK is the UK but the Regime can be changed.

My point wasn’t that there are no driver shortages, it was that the Regime is lying about them being the cause of goods and fuel shortages in the UK.

Another hoot is Johnson whinging to von der Leyen that naughty old France might, just might, be thinking of breaking international law. His hypocrisy cup runneth over.

I can hardly bear to watch the BBC now, it’s so biased - but my wife had the ‘breakfast’ show on just now and I overheard an item declaiming China as the world’s biggest contributor to climate breakdown - without mention of the facts that:

  • China is far bigger than any other developed country - per capita it is far from the biggest contributor;
  • You can’t base calculations on only domestic emissions because developed countries that source production elsewhere have simply exported their contributions - mainly to China! - and
  • The only fair way to allocate responsibility is on cumulative contributions - not to do so ignores the fact that early industrialisation and colonialism actually created much of the world-wide problem in the first place.

Text-book example of ‘diversionary strategy’ involving a propaganda-like distortion of the whole truth - projecting a problem onto China for which the UK is in fact more responsible than any other country - with the possible exception of America (which is by a long way the highest contributor per capita).

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Il n’y a pas qu’au Royaume-Uni que le transport routier manque de bras. En France aussi, une pénurie de main-d’œuvre se fait sentir. Si elle est moins dramatique qu’outre-Manche, où les besoins s’élèvent à 100.000 chauffeurs routiers supplémentaires pour faire face à la demande, selon la fédération britannique du transport routier (RHA), les organisations professionnelles du secteur la chiffrent tout de même à 40.000 à 50.000 emplois non pourvus.

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This issue turns, doesn’t it, on the meaning of ‘experiencing’…

Although it’s pretty well established that there is a driver shortage across Europe (and much of the rest of the world) this is not particularly significant unless it is disruptive - it’s not at all unusual for businesses to operate a little short-staffed for a while. And there just isn’t any perceptible disruption here, is there? In that sense, we’re not ‘experiencing’ it.

The situation varies across the UK - in some places the fuel supply crisis is hardly noticeable now - but my daughter (in North Wales) still has to deal with a limit of £35 on every petrol purchase - and of course the famous cardboard pictures of products they’re using to fill the empty spaces on supermarket shelves - including a whole aisle of cardboard in her local Boots! - she sends us despairing photos…

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It was during the pre-covid gilet-jaunes era that shortages started in our local supermarket. The GJ’s tactics certainly disrupted deliveries around here, one way or another.

For a while the shelves looked odd, as stuff was spaced-to-fill… but there was never an item one could not buy, albeit not always my preferred brand, but no cardboard infills.

This theme has continued through the covid panic… but the shelves are now very well-stocked with the supermarket “own brand” goods plus a few alternative brands.

I really can’t understand why UK shops are in such trouble… or are folk insisting on certain brands…

As I’ve posted elsewhere… general gas bottle deliveries to the supermarket are OK…

But the 24hr, “pay here and grab one” section is out of action, with those cages all full of empty bottles
That company seems to be a law unto itself and deliveries are way, way overdue with no indication of when/if such will resume.
Whether this is due to driver shortages… the supermarket manager had no idea and/or information.

You forgot the guardian readers as well. The media has turned totally over the last decade or so. As you depict there is chaos all over - Really?- The MSM isnt worth the bother to read as they only push their own agenda mongering fear in to the general public with the result the monoglot cretins as you so rightly put it get obsessed and drive the fear to new heights. All the while when there is a real issue, they dont see fit to report on it for fear of offending someone who is offended for you.

Yes, it’s true. One can’t see the wood for the agendas. I’m sure it’s just as bad on the left but my built in filters and personal positive feedback loop masks it from me :roll_eyes:. That old joke about the only balanced person is one with a chip on both shoulders applies I guess.

I wonder sometimes was it always that way and it was only when I retired and had the time to actually consider and reflect on the stuff that was being pushed at me that I realised it was all pretty much twaddle. Or is it just the volume has increased and the venality of the whole media has become more apparent? A few lies might slip by but a tsunami of them can’t

Of course previous politicians lied but none (not in Britain anyway) seem to have lied in such a barefaced manner and to care so little when caught out.

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