It is not going very well to solve the great shortage of truck drivers in the UK. Only 127 foreign drivers have applied for visas, while the British government wants to grant 5000 temporary visas.
That is still very little. There are 300 visas available for drivers who can drive a tanker and a total of 5000 visas for foreign truck drivers.
And even 5,000 is far too little. According to The Road Haulage Association (RHA), the British organisation representing the interests of road hauliers, there is now a shortage of some 100,000 truck drivers.
As a result, there are major logistical problems in the UK. Petrol stations cannot be supplied enough because there are too few drivers who can drive tankers. This leads to large lines for petrol stations. The British government has even deployed military personnel to supply the pumping stations.
In addition to petrol stations, supermarkets and restaurants also suffer from the large shortage of truck drivers.
