4 ms·

Brexit may be a (small) part of it, but it certainly isn't the whole picture. Btw much of Europe faces a shortage of drivers as well. There are a number of fac

Brexit may be a (small) part of it, but it certainly isn't the whole picture. Btw much of Europe faces a shortage of drivers as well. There are a number of factors at play including delayed testing because of covid, relatively low wages, and perhaps drivers shifting to more local deliveries e.g. supermarkets post covid due to changing demand. I was speaking to a taxi driver who said the taxi industry was being decimated by this

mpweiher 5y ago
The rest of Europe has mostly projected driver shortages, and no acute shortages of drivers, let alone goods. So yes, while there is a wider issue, the wider issue is not the current problem or the high-order bit. Note also that UGKOV plans to address the driver shortage by offering to ease restrictions on non UK-based (i.e. EU) drivers. So yes, this is totally due to Brexit.
- handelaar 5y ago
  ...the same non-UK-based drivers that it proposes to kick out of the country again on December 24th. And the same drivers that last year on December 24th it corralled onto a disused airport runway behind fences and locked the doors so they couldn't go anywhere while being kicked out of the country. Hard to imagine why they might not be jumping at the chance to spend another Xmas with no access to sanitation or even food in a place that is run by people who abuse them publicly every day
bayesian_horse 5y ago
The supply of drivers is somewhat fungible, but it doesn't just multiply when demand is high and shrink when it is low. Those are Human beings that have to be, in essence, "stolen away" from another job, in the case of high school graduates (or whatever you call them) from another potential career. That's why wage isn't the magic wand many people believe it to be. If one industry increases wages (provided they can afford it), another gets the short stick. Unless you "steal" workers from other countries. As the UK did/does successfully for example with health workers...
petercooper 5y ago
Brexit may be a (small) part of it, but it certainly isn't the whole picture. Btw much of Europe faces a shortage of drivers as well. Yes, though Europe is a larger "network." I think it's a bit like Metcalfe's law. Even if the EU has similar shortages of labor or goods, the larger number of citizens and companies allows things to flow to and from wherever they're needed more easily. The UK is now a separate far smaller system no longer plugged into that larger network.

mpweiher 5y ago

The rest of Europe has mostly projected driver shortages, and no acute shortages of drivers, let alone goods. So yes, while there is a wider issue, the wider issue is not the current problem or the high-order bit. Note also that UGKOV plans to address the driver shortage by offering to ease restrictions on non UK-based (i.e. EU) drivers. So yes, this is totally due to Brexit.

handelaar 5y ago
...the same non-UK-based drivers that it proposes to kick out of the country again on December 24th. And the same drivers that last year on December 24th it corralled onto a disused airport runway behind fences and locked the doors so they couldn't go anywhere while being kicked out of the country. Hard to imagine why they might not be jumping at the chance to spend another Xmas with no access to sanitation or even food in a place that is run by people who abuse them publicly every day

bayesian_horse 5y ago

The supply of drivers is somewhat fungible, but it doesn't just multiply when demand is high and shrink when it is low. Those are Human beings that have to be, in essence, "stolen away" from another job, in the case of high school graduates (or whatever you call them) from another potential career. That's why wage isn't the magic wand many people believe it to be. If one industry increases wages (provided they can afford it), another gets the short stick. Unless you "steal" workers from other countries. As the UK did/does successfully for example with health workers...

petercooper 5y ago

Brexit may be a (small) part of it, but it certainly isn't the whole picture. Btw much of Europe faces a shortage of drivers as well. Yes, though Europe is a larger "network." I think it's a bit like Metcalfe's law. Even if the EU has similar shortages of labor or goods, the larger number of citizens and companies allows things to flow to and from wherever they're needed more easily. The UK is now a separate far smaller system no longer plugged into that larger network.