The British government wants Germans to work as truck drivers

Thousands of truck drivers are missing in the UK. The government is now taking extraordinary measures: it is soliciting applicants by letter – even from Germans who have never driven a truck.

The acute shortage of truck drivers in Great Britain has dire consequences: long queues form in front of gas stations that are still open, many of which cannot be delivered on time. Supermarket shelves also remained partially empty. The British Ministry of Transport has now also written to Germans living in England – they should get behind the wheel of a truck.

Many drivers from Eastern Europe have left the country during the pandemic. Because of strict post-Brexit entry rules, many do not return. The government now hopes to remedy the situation with short-term visas for several thousand drivers until Christmas. In addition, according to The Independent, about a million people with a truck driver’s licence in England received a letter with the following remark: “It has never been better to find a truck driver job that suits you.” However, this also includes many Germans who live in the UK, but, for the most part, have never driven a truck.

“Thank you Boris!”

The reason: German driving licenses issued before 1999 entitle you to drive a truck weighing up to 7.5 tons, which corresponds to an average size. Transportation Secretary Charlotte Fair’s letter has now asked to consider a “return” to the trucking sector.

A letter was also sent to Peter Neumann, professor of security studies at King’s College in London and a future CDU team member. He shared the message on Twitter and said: “Good news: If the policy doesn’t work, I can still become a truck driver in England. Thank you, Boris!” Behind him lay the laughing emoji. Several other people have posted that they have received such a message, including epidemiologist Sybil Mohr. One wrote: “Oh my God, that sounds desperate.”