problem — a national shortage of lorry drivers. well, it's happened because of a multitude of factors. brexit — we've lost about 20,000 european drivers. we lost about 40,000 trucker training tests during the pandemic because of social distancing rules — those tests cancelled. and we've had a historic shortage in this country of tens of thousands of lorry drivers. and that means we've got a shortage now of 100,000. that has already led to bare shelves in supermarkets and other stores, which people within the sector have warned are likely to get worse in the run—up to christmas. the haulage industry body logistics uk said the shortage is a very serious issue, but has warned consumers against panic—buying fuel. that is a call echoed by the government, which says people should refuel as normal. it points out it has already taken steps to make training new hgv drivers quicker and easier.