Christmas prices will rise in Britain, truckers say
Over the faint whiff of sewage, cigarette smoke and diesel fumes in the truck park, scores of drivers told Reuters in several different tongues that wages would have to rise
Truck drivers have a cautionary message for British Prime Minister Boris Johnson: an acute shortage of drivers is ratcheting up their wages and that will have a knock-on effect on prices for food and gifts in the run-up to Christmas.
An air of chaos has gripped the world's fifth-largest economy in recent days as a deficit of truckers left fuel pumps dry across the land, and a spike in European wholesale natural gas prices tipped energy companies into bankruptcy.
The United Kingdom is short of around 100,000 truckers after tens of thousands returned to the European Union during the Brexit maelstrom and 40,000 truck driver tests were cancelled during the Covid-19 lockdowns.
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At Clacket Lane service station beside London's M25 orbital motorway, drivers from Britain, France, Germany, Poland, Latvia, Lithuania, Portugal, Romania, Russia and Turkey were parked up to rest after journeys from every corner of Europe.
Over the faint whiff of sewage, cigarette smoke and diesel fumes in the truck park, scores of drivers told Reuters in several different tongues that wages would have to rise.
