The fuel crisis in the UK has resulted in British Soldiers driving fuel tankers from Monday 4th October 2021. The fuel crisis has been caused by motorist’s panic buying fuel due to a media frenzy about fuel tanker driver shortages.
Mainstream Media Causes Chaos
For over a week now there have been queues at fuel stations across Britain after it was reported on mainstream news channels that there was a driver shortage in the fuel industry causing fuel stations to run out of fuel.
The facts were that there were very few fuel stations across the country that had problems, but the reports were reported in such a way that it caused mass panic with motorists who flocked in their droves to fill their vehicles with fuel.
The supply chain was in a position that it simply could not keep up with demand as motorists started filling their vehicles to the brim whether they required fuel or not.
Motorists who desperately needed fuel such as emergency services, nurses, doctors, struggled to get fuel.
Workers who needed fuel to do their daily jobs found it difficult to get fuel sometimes queuing for hours on end at the pumps.
Government Desicion To Act On UK Fuel Crisis
The government called for calm and asked people not to panic-buy fuel, they announced that there was not a shortage of fuel and that the fuel companies had plenty in reserve, but that advice was widely ignored as hysteria developed and the queues got worse depleting the fuel stations supplies before more deliveries to them could be made.
An increase in truck drivers was needed quickly to increase the time scale of the supply chain, putting more fuel tankers on the road to catch up with demand.
The government announced that the military would step in and drive fuel tankers to help with the supply chain to try and get things back to normal.
Almost 200 military personnel have been allocated to relieve the pressure on petrol stations.
Soldiers Prepare to Drive Fuel Tankers
Once the government announced that soldiers were to be deployed to help with the fuel crisis, soldiers have been preparing with specialist training to drive and operate fuel tankers safely.
British soldiers driving fuel tankers in the UK was not something that any soldier would have been prepared for.
There are many truck drivers within the armed forces, so truck driving would not be an issue to them.
The soldiers have been training most of this week to drive and operate fuel tankers safely and will be delivering fuel as of Monday 4th October 2021.
Fuel is a hazardous flammable liquid that regular truck drivers have special training to carry safely this is called an ADR (Accord Dangereux Routier) which is a European regulation concerning the transport of dangerous goods.
Conclusion
The media were a major factor in causing the fuel crisis in the UK, causing mass panic among motorists that lead to panic buying fuel leaving garage forecourts empty of fuel.
British soldiers have had the training to drive fuel tankers and will increase deliveries to garages in the UK, it is hoped this will alleviate fuel shortages and get some sort of normality back at the pumps.