The increasing shortage of skilled workers in logistics poses challenges for international supply and causes delivery bottlenecks. With up to 100,000 truck drivers missing in Great Britain, petrol stations are no longer receiving fuel. According to the industry association Petrol Retailers Association, which represents around 5,500 petrol stations, the emergency affects around two thirds of the members who have run out of fuel.
Around 50 to 90 percent of all petrol stations are therefore already empty or in danger of drying out. At many petrol stations in Great Britain there are currently delivery bottlenecks for gasoline and diesel, there are long queues and panic buying. In the short term, drivers from the British military are to help out.
Staff shortages are causing supply bottlenecks in the UK
In addition to the tight fuel supply situation, other areas of daily life in the United Kingdom have long been affected by the shortage of personnel in logistics. There are gaps in the shelves in supermarkets, many dairy farmers are left sitting on their milk and in extreme cases have to dispose of it, furniture stores lack mattresses and sewage treatment plants lack important chemicals. Overall, there is hardly an industry that does not report delivery bottlenecks.
The situation of workers in logistics is tense along the entire international supply chain. The International Chamber of Shipping (ICS) and other industry associations recently sent an open letter to the heads of state of the United Nations General Assembly to warn of a “collapse of the global transport system” if employees in the Logistics would not guarantee freedom of movement. Travel bans and restrictions as well as a lack of vaccine supply to seafarers would have massively impaired the well-being of employees during the Corona period.
Delivery bottlenecks: System-relevant function of logistics
“The tense supply situation due to the shortage of personnel in logistics makes the public even more aware of the system-relevant function of the economic sector. Logistics is of enormous importance for every economy and society – hardly anything works without it. It is therefore all the more important to raise the general public’s awareness of their achievements and to advertise their diversity of employment opportunities. Because the employees in logistics are the basis for ensuring our supply, ”explains Frauke Heistermann, spokeswoman for the initiative The economists.
The initiative, founded in 2019, aims to improve the image of logistics and to stand up for logistics as an employer. After the automotive industry and trade, logistics is the third largest economic sector in Germany and one of the country’s most important employers, with a total turnover of around 272 billion euros in 2020 (source: Fraunhofer Working Group for Supply Chain Services) and more than three million employees.
“Die Wirtschaftsmacher” provide information on logistics
On their initiative website as well as on the relevant social media channels, “Die Wirtschaftsmacher” provide a great deal of information about logistics for interested young professionals and those willing to change. Among other things, “logistics insights”, professional and “logistics hero” profiles as well as extensive Issues and guides on the topics of starting a career or studying logistics. With her current campaign “Logistics is where I am”, she is making the system relevance of logistics for business and society clear and promoting its diversity.
In Germany, too, tens of thousands of truck drivers and other skilled and junior employees are already lacking. This means that the demand in the entire economic sector has been high for years and is likely to continue to rise in the future. The reason for this is the supply function of logistics for production, trade and population as well as the growing online trade (e-commerce), which depends on the reliable logistical processing of orders in the form of storage, transport, order picking and returns management.
Brief survey on the subject of delivery bottlenecks and security of supply
In a survey, the “Die Wirtschaftsmacher” initiative takes up the issue of delivery bottlenecks and security of supply. Because the consequences of the corona pandemic and Brexit have made it clear how sensitive global goods and supply chains are. Incidents such as the recent blockade of the Suez Canal by a container ship show how much citizens and companies depend on reliably functioning supply chains.
Many companies are currently grappling with bottlenecks in construction and spare parts, microchips for computers and cars, paper, bicycles, building materials such as wood, and also in transport capacities. With the short survey “Delivery bottlenecks – how is the public perception?”, The initiative “Die Wirtschaftsmacher” wants to find out whether and how these bottlenecks are also noticeable among consumers.
The survey comprises a total of four questions and is available here until October 13, 2021.
The results will be published in October. The initiative Die Wirtschaftsmacher has set itself the goal of improving the image of logistics in society. Around 100 companies, logistics-related associations, clubs and the media take part in the initiative. (sg)
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