Drive for Britain! U.K. scrambles for truckers amid supply woes

British energy firms are rationing supplies of gasoline and closing some petrol pumps — the latest in a string of shortages that have seen McDonald’s take milkshakes off the menu, KFC run short of chicken and gaps appear on supermarket shelves.

A big factor behind the problems is a lack of truck drivers. The U.K. is short tens of thousands of haulers, as factors including Brexit and the coronavirus pandemic converge to create a supply-chain crunch.

Officials urged motorists not to panic-buy fuel after BP and Esso shut a handful of stations because there were not enough trucks to get gas to the pumps.

“The advice would be to carry on as normal,” Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said Friday. Despite the plea, lines of cars formed at some gas stations across the U.K. as drivers filled up just in case.

As concern over the disruption mounts, the transportation industry is pressing the government to loosen immigration rules and recruit more drivers from Europe to avert Christmas shortages of turkeys and toys.

The government is resisting that move, and scrambling to lure more British people into truck driving.

Countries including the United States and Germany are also facing a driver shortage. But the U.K.’s problem has been worsened by Brexit. Britain’s full departure from the EU last year ended the right of the bloc’s citizens to live and work in the U.K., making it harder for firms to employ the eastern European drivers many had come to rely on.