Can UK Petrol Stations “Phil McCann?”

As students, it is often difficult to fathom the complexity of supply chains. The closest that I have ever really gotten is the intense panic experienced when trying to overtake a Heavy Good Vehicle (HGV) on the highway with sweaty hands and a pounding heart. Consequently, it is hard for me to believe that their constant presence and highway travels are a necessary evil, especially considering the fear they instill in me based on their sheer size and speed in comparison to my family’s small compact Toyota. And yet, they really do make the world go around. As such, a breakdown in their journey can have devastating effects and result in shortages across the country.

Around this time last month, reporter Phil McCan covered a petrol shortage around the south of England that resulted from a falling number of HGV drivers. Hilarious instance of nominative determinism aside (but not forgotten!), McCann explained that this fuel shortage was not, in reality, a shortage of the supply of fuel, but that of the agents transporting the goods, called HGV drivers. Moreover, he urged the British population against the tendency to panic-buy, because it only exacerbates the problem and creates a sort of self-fulfilling prophecy – thinking that fuel will run out and choosing to stock up while you can often actually causes fuel to run out. McCann reported extensive lines, general panic, and even a high volume of cars passing through petrol stations where pumps were covered with plastic bags in the absence of official ‘out of order’ covers, which had been terminated. Most importantly, however, the individuals most in need of petrol such as key workers and taxi drivers were left dry, in the middle of a pandemic.

Thus, there is not a physical, current UK fuel shortage, but instead a breakdown in its supply chain. It has been argued that this was set off by the after effects of both Brexit and the COVID-19 pandemic. According to the Office for National Statistics, in the past year, the rough number of HGV drivers has fallen from 305,000 to 235,000, as foreign workers were forced to return to their home countries due either to visa termination or the need to be around family in this complicated world situation. The problem that remains amid the fuel shortage is how the government can find more willing and eligible drivers to get fuel across the country.

In an attempt to do so, the UK government has proposed a few possible actions. However, they are distinctively short-term fixes. One such solution was the government’s announcement of the eligibility for 5,000 foreign drivers to return to Britain on three-month temporary visas to focus efforts on resolving this problem before the December holidays. Frustratingly, these drivers could not stay and work in the UK for more than three months, even if they wanted to, so the root of the problem will have hardly been addressed. Secondly, the government is also attempting to retrieve British or UK-based workers who have left the industry, by mailing letters to all individuals with a HGV licence. Furthermore, the government hopes to relax competition rules to allow firms to cooperate more on transportation and information sharing, with the aim of eventually patching up this hole in the transportation industry. Most of these actions, however, neglect to acknowledge that most current HGV drivers are part of the older generation. What will happen once they retire? Although the UK is not the only country experiencing these problems, it is the one currently experiencing the crisis the most keenly as a result of mass panic buying and the post-Brexit climate.

While this is not a true, technical fuel shortage, the slowdown has nonetheless caused petrol prices to skyrocket. Prices are on track, according to the Petrol Retailers Association (PRA), to exceed the April 2012 record of 142p per liter of petrol and 148p per liter of diesel by the end of October. So, despite reports commenting that the petrol shortage crisis seems to be over after a month, which is evidenced by falling fuel sales and rising station tank levels, the crisis remains steadfast in terms of record high petrol prices.