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McDonald’s has run out of milkshakes and some bottled drinks at restaurants in England, Scotland and Wales.
The fast-food chain said it was facing supply chain issues affecting the availability of shakes and bottled drinks at its 1,250 outlets. An updated statement said it was “working hard” to limit the impact on deliveries and customers and had taken some items off its menus for now.
It confirmed the lorry driver shortage was one reason behind the disruption. Its statement said: “As reported, a number of issues are impacting retailers in the UK at the moment, one of which is the nationwide shortage of HGV drivers.”
A wide range of businesses have reported problems with supplies because of the driver shortage. Last week, Nando’s closed some outlets after running out of chicken.
Earlier this month, a survey by the Road Haulage Association (RHA) estimated there was a shortage of more than 100,000 drivers in the UK, out of a pre-pandemic total of about 600,000.
Bonus payments
The RHA has said some 30,000 HGV driving tests did not take place last year because of the coronavirus pandemic, adding that a “historic” shortage in drivers had been exacerbated by changes to rules following Brexit.
More recently, drivers being told to self-isolate after being notified by the NHS Covid app have also added to the problem.
Analysis of the latest ONS Labour Force Survey for the second quarter suggests that 14,000 EU lorry drivers left jobs in the UK in the year to June 2020, but only 600 had returned by July 2021.
Firms from a number of sectors in the UK have been battling with a supply chain crisis due to a shortage of lorry drivers. On Friday, Logistics UK, which represents freight firms, and the British Retail Consortium (BRC) wrote to the government to plead for new measures to alleviate the problem.
Tesco has been offering lorry drivers a £1,000 joining bonus amid a chronic shortage of drivers in the industry.
Other companies are also understood to be offering similar incentives for HGV drivers after disruption to supply chains led to product shortages. Morrisons said it was working on schemes to train staff to become lorry drivers.
A government spokesperson said last week it was bringing in a package of measures to help tackle the HGV driver shortage, including plans to streamline the process for new drivers to gain their HGV licence and to increase the number of tests that can be conducted.
Source: bbc.com
