Falling asleep at the wheel over fuel crisis

Like many people this week I have been watching the queues of vehicles waiting to fill up their vehicles at the few petrol stations that we have despite the fact that there is no shortage of fuel.

This entire matter seems to be driven by a leaked comment from a BP executive about a shortage of HGV drivers and a subsequent very small number of their garages having to shut.

The government seems to have largely absented itself from this debacle despite having been warned for years about a growing shortage of HGV drivers.

Its proposal to allow 5,000 European drivers to work till Christmas to ease our plight is no more than a sticking plaster.

The way out of this problem seems to me to be the following:

Minimum purchase of 20 litres/4.4 gallons and a maximum of 40 litres/8.8 gallons.

No Jerry cans or other storage items to be used on the forecourt during this period.

This would reduce the number of people topping up their tanks unnecessarily and prevent large scale filling up. Also I would ban queuing in the road for fuel which is leading to massive tailbacks on main roads.

Supermarkets should employ a Disneyland-style queuing system on their premises to prevent the above.

Those filling up should not go shopping after filling up.

This is just plain selfish as is queuing for fuel when you don’t need it!

Currently HGV drivers have to jump numerous hurdles to drive a lorry, much of which is unnecessary and bureaucratic. For example there are four tests that make up a driver

CPC (certificate of professional competence). Taken together with the difficulty of getting a driving test and the overall expense, it is no wonder that inadequate numbers come forward to drive. You could deliver parcels without any of this grief. The answers are there but as the government seems asleep at the wheel I’m not holding out much hope.

Neil Cox

A rare photo of the Revels dance band that were the regular band at Ashford’s Corn Exchange