No research has gone into this at all, I am merely rambling, again.
Like most of the population of the UK, I have been aware of the shortage of lorry drivers since Brexit started to bite down hard. I know shelves are empty, I shop for food, and I haven't really seen it myself. Not to the levels of the Great Toilet Roll Famine of 2020 levels anyway.
Now it's fuel delivery that is so desperately short, we're not out of fuel, were out of people to deliver it. I don't want to get political, I don't have the vocabulary nor the knowledge of all the facts to hold my own, so I won't. If the result of Brexit dictates that non-British nationals have been sent back to their native countries, we have no one to blame but ourselves.
It's a sorry story, how dare these skilled Europeans come over here, be skilled employees in vital sectors, work hard and cause no trouble, valuable members of society all.
Then we kick them out to show that this Island Shall Not Be Conquered, and then rage impotently because we've been left in the cacky by a typically (we're led to believe) underhand foreign tactic of leaving us in the lurch. You there! Go home I say! I don't believe it! They left us! The fiends...
There are loads of great things about being an Island nation, but one of the worst is our insular naivety.
Someone can only be "stealing your jobs" if you were actually willing to get off your arse and do the job in the first place. We are in a position now where we haven't trained new drivers from within (partly due to the pandemic) and kicked out all the European drivers we had!
Alright, I got a bit political, but it's hard not to, when you're besieged by imbeciles, a good rant is as good as a weekend break.
Is There a Point To This Waffle? Ah, There It Is
Not that you can go on a weekend break! You're out of petrol! Or you aren't, but it's in a tanker in Dover, so you may as well be!
This leads me nicely into my pitch for EV, because if more people, more businesses, take this recent issue to heart, surely they must be seeing the benefits?
Within a decade most businesses will have to be on board anyway, the costs of EV are dropping annually, the benefits increasing exponentially.
You don't even have to be environmentally inclined, I myself don't even own a tree, let alone feel the need to cuddle one.
For business, the benefits are already outweighing the negatives. Getting in on the ground floor, getting money back from buying EVs, saving on fuel costs, not being restricted on movement. And how do you quantify the free exposure to a new or existing customer?
"Oooh" they'll say, this company is socially responsible! They won't miss deliveries of my products, they don't queue for fuel at empty pumps, they're ready to do "bizniss!". I go past an Engie office every day and see their chargers sitting proudly outside the office, and every day without fail, I think "That's the way to do it, cleaner air, no-hassle, winner" You can't buy that kind of advertising. Well, you can, from me.
"It looks too complicated, I don't know where to start". Rubbish, if you own a business, you run that business, and for the things that your business needs, you out-source. Why complicate matters when there are companies out there that can do almost everything for you?
For the man on the street thinking of buying an EV, yes, they are more expensive than a petrol car. But the cost of charging at home vs the cost of fuel? the risk of not getting fuel?
EV is less inclined to break down, as there are fewer moving parts, there are presently over 16,000 charging points available to the public throughout the UK, and that is growing monthly by hundreds, so you cant use the excuse of not being able to leave sight of your house or business as a reason not to start looking into EV today!
Charging at home is as cheap as chips, cheaper in fact, have you been to the chip shop recently?
There is a government-led home charging scheme (EVHS) whereby you can get money off your home charger installation, and some EV companies even offer free charger and installation.
This post isn't about using the recent fuel issues to scaremonger, it is however about pointing out an alternative, and a reliable, beneficial, and socially responsible alternative it is too.
Right, I'm off to buy an EV, I queued up for 3 hours yesterday for fuel, and when I got to the pump, it had a carrier bag on it.
Take care of yourselves people! If you need me, want me, or just want to shout at me, click the button below.