It wasn’t that long ago that Brexit was being blamed for the shortage of lorry drivers and the lack of goods on the supermarket shelves but as they say, a week is a long time in Politics and also it seems in the road haulage business.
Britain is currently facing a shortfall of 100,000 HGV drivers, which retail bosses have partly blamed on changes to migration rules post-Brexit and EU employees returning home, however as with all these things there is more to this story.
Mainland Europe is experiencing an estimated 400,000 lorry driver shortage with Germany missing between 45,000 and 60,000 HGV drivers last year whilst France has faced a shortage of around 43,000 lorry drivers since 2019 and the shortfall in Italy in 2019 was estimated to be around 15,000.
Port closures in China during the pandemic have sparked a supply chain crisis with suggestions that there will be shortages at Christmas time leaving some children disappointed and parents brawling in the toy shops.
Unfortunately we only have ourselves to blame for this situation, for we all sit at home and order everything from Amazon which means vast numbers of HGV drivers are fully employed delivering all the goods to and from the Amazon warehouses, which may be a good thing for the environment as huge numbers of us are not using our cars to go to the shops leaving just one man with a van to deliver to all of us.
The slight flaw in this plan is that virtually everything we buy nowadays comes from China which is the highest polluting country in the world and one which gives poor Greta Thunberg sleepless nights.
The only solution is for us to go to the shops on our bicycles and purchase British made washing machines and wide screen televisions and other goods not made in China thereby freeing up many HGV drivers and eliminating the shortfall.
I suspect the eagle eyed of my readers may have already spotted the weak link in this plan in that absolutely everything is made in China and having just purchased a new fridge freezer which is the size of Yorkshire, I’m having trouble working out the logistics of balancing it on the crossbar of my bicycle and finding a cycle lane wide enough to accommodate it.
I am a retired actor, although to be honest I only retired because I wasn't getting any work due to losing my agent when I became a full time carer to my mother who had dementia. and the option of becoming an unemployed actor/waiter at my age was ludicrous, especially as my waiting skills are non-existent.
Having said I’m retired, I don’t think there really is such a thing as a retired actor for I am still available for work, I just don’t have an agent or any connections with regards to obtaining any worthwhile work.
I have over the years done student films when there is nothing else available, always low paid (if at all) the only incentive was always the promised copy of the finished film for your show reel which nine times out of ten always failed to materialise.
I spent many years looking after my aged mother and shortly after her death I was lucky enough to run into an ex-girlfriend of many years ago and our romance blossomed once again, resulting in us getting married in 2013.
My move to the countryside inspired me to write The Diary of a Country Bumpkin which tells of my continuing dilemmas in dealing with the rigors of the countryside from the unexpectedly large number of pollens, fungal moulds and hay products waiting to attack the unsuspecting townie.
I enjoy writing, see my play Dulce Et Decorum Est Pro Patria Mori on The Wireless Theatre Company, The Plays Wot I Wrote and The Battle of Barking Creek both available on Amazon.co.uk and am very fond of classic cars so my ideal occupation would be acting in a film I had written set in the 1930s/40s, we live in hopes.
I am delighted to say that since venturing to the countryside where space is not quite the premium it is in town, I have due to the availability of two double garages acquired more classic cars to form a small collection the pride of which are a 1947 Bentley Mk VI and a 2000 Bentley Arnage.
My various blogs and websites are continually evolving and I’m sure that by following the appropriate links you will find something which will edify or amuse.
I have written a number of different books all available on Amazon, so don't be shy should you feel the urge to purchase. https://www.amazon.co.uk/Mr-Joe-Wells/e/B06XKWFQHT/ref=dp_byline_cont_book_1
Nothing is ever as straight forward as it seems.
The other day in a restaurant the waitress apologised for the lack of steak (we didn’t want steak anyway), apparently, the shortage was due to the breakdown in the supply chain from Europe.
Seeing as the restaurant is surrounded by cattle farms and there’s even a slaughter house just down the road I was a little shocked at this. Whatever happened to buying British?
It’s utter bloody madness, how can it be cost effective to transport meat from Europe when you can buy it down the road, especially when it’s probably a far superior product. Sadly I bet it all just comes down to profit margins regardless of the quality of the meat.
The Diary of a Country Bumpkin 
Nothing is ever as straight forward as it seems.
The other day in a restaurant the waitress apologised for the lack of steak (we didn’t want steak anyway), apparently, the shortage was due to the breakdown in the supply chain from Europe.
Seeing as the restaurant is surrounded by cattle farms and there’s even a slaughter house just down the road I was a little shocked at this. Whatever happened to buying British?
It’s utter bloody madness, how can it be cost effective to transport meat from Europe when you can buy it down the road, especially when it’s probably a far superior product. Sadly I bet it all just comes down to profit margins regardless of the quality of the meat.
Was it you holding up traffic on the A47 the other day? My horse could not get past the heavy load!
Yes, I was having trouble seeing round my fridge to see where I was going!