Category Archives: Brexit

The social care sector faces a looming shortage of workers due to post-Brexit immigration rules, a report for the Government has admitted.

The report from the Migration Advisory Committee said the rules are expected to deprive the UK of a non-negligible source of foreign adult social care workers and that European Economic Area (EEA) nationals have been a non-negligible contributor to securing adequate care workforce in an ageing society, accounting for 5.9 per cent of the social care workforce in 2017.

At their conference today, the Liberal Democrats will table a motion calling on ministers to relax current rules to make it easier to recruit social care staff from Europe and tackle the staffing crisis in UK care homes.

Under the post-Brexit points-based immigration system introduced in January this year, most social care worker jobs do not qualify as skilled workers and so candidates are excluded from that route.

The Lib Dem motion will also call for ministers to accept the recommendation from the MAC report to extend the governments Youth Mobility Scheme, which currently allows citizens aged 18-30 from Australia, New Zealand, Canada and Japan to come to the UK for two years, to European nations.

The party wants to see the schemes upper age limit raised to 35 to attract more workers into the social care sector.

LibDem foreign affairs spokesperson Layla Moran said: Social care staff across the UK have worked tirelessly throughout the pandemic to keep us safe.

However, the Governments zealous commitment to reducing immigration at all costs is having a hugely damaging impact on this vital sector.

Even their own reports show that their new immigration rules do nothing to help fill the 120,000+ social care vacancies, with even senior care home workers often not being able to meet the Governments arbitrary salary threshold to come to the UK.

These rules are putting thousands of jobs, and hurting small businesses that are already struggling with staff shortages and the impact of the pandemic. It also means staff will continue to be overstretched and unable to give people the time and attention they need.

We should be rebuilding social care and giving our carers a fair deal, not making their jobs harder than they already are.

Liberal Democrats want to see the Youth Mobility scheme extended and the age limit raised from 30 to 35. This will open the door for thousands of more skilled care workers to come to the UK, giving overstretched social care services the urgent support they need.

i has contacted the Home Office for comment.

Read more here:

Social care sector faces looming shortage of workers due to post-Brexit immigration rules - iNews

McDonalds ran out of milkshakes, Nandos had to close some of its restaurants due to a lack of chicken and Halfords has warned it is short of bikes. Meanwhile, at a key time for harvests, crops are rotting in the fields. It all points to a crisis in Britains supply chains that analysts say is the most severe since the 1970s.

The Guardian business reporter Joanna Partridge tells Rachel Humphreys that the problem is a perfect storm of pandemic disruption, component shortages from China and labour shortages exacerbated by Brexit.

One of the industries hardest hit is road haulage where an acute shortage of qualified HGV drivers means planned shipments are not being fulfilled. Steve Bowles runs Roy Bowles Transport in Berkshire. He says the shortage of drivers is causing a massive headache for his business and his clients. He, like many in his industry, is calling on the government to relax post-Brexit visa restrictions on EU drivers.

Meanwhile, more and more companies are issuing stock warnings and there are fears of a further squeeze on already stretched supply lines in the weeks leading up to Christmas.

Support The Guardian

The Guardian is editorially independent. And we want to keep our journalism open and accessible to all. But we increasingly need our readers to fund our work.

Here is the original post:

Is Brexit the reason McDonald's is running out of milkshakes? - The Guardian

Access to labour was the key factor that threatens the UKs competitiveness as a place to employ people, both currently and in five years time. Photo: Peter Cziborra/Reuters

British businesses have said that the impact of the ongoing staff shortages poses the biggest threat to labour market competitiveness.

In a recent survey, conducted by the Confederation of British Industry (CBI), 76% of UK firms said access to labour was the key factor that threatens the UKs competitiveness as a place to employ people, both currently and in five years time.

It was the highest proportion since the question was first asked in 2016.

On the back of this, the CBI urged the UK government for more support for businesses to plug the shortage gap in the immediate term, calling the move vital.

However, the research did reveal that the UKs jobs outlook is strengthening somewhat, with a net balance of 50% of firms expecting to grow their workforce in the next year.

Out of the 422 respondents, surveyed between 16 31 August 2021, 87% said they are actively planning to recruit permanent roles this year, with almost half expecting increased levels of hiring. Only 9% expected lower levels of recruitment for such roles compared to the past year.

Read more: UK businesses criticise self-isolation changes for food supply chain workers

The data also found that nearly seven in 10 firms (68%) are planning to either increase pay in line with or above inflation making the rebound the highest since the question was first asked in 2009.

In August, inflation in the UK rose to 3.2%, up from 2% in July, to hit its highest level since March 2012.

The rise was more than economists expectations for a reading of 2.9%, and reflected a jump in food and drink prices, compared to August 2020, when chancellor Rishi Sunaks eat out to help out discount scheme cut the cost of restaurant meals.

The 1.2 percentage point increase between July and August was also the largest since records began in January 1997, however, the Bank of England (BoE) said the surge was manageable and temporary.

Meanwhile, almost three in five firms (59%) said that they were keeping COVID-19 safety measures in place to support employees confidence to return to offices. As employees return, businesses are expecting changed working patterns to stay.

Story continues

Compared with working pre-pandemic, over three quarters of UK firms expect the use of hybrid working to increase, 40% expect full time remote working to increase, and 58% expect informal flexibility to increase in their organisation.

Read more: UK delays full post-Brexit border checks from EU

As well as staff shortages, other key areas of concern for businesses were access to skills, and the ability to move UK workers across the European Union.

After a challenging year its encouraging to see the jobs market rebound. With demand returning, businesses both small and large, have put their recruitment plans into action. But as the UKs labour market emerged from one crisis, its been plunged into another, with shortages holding back growth, said Matthew Fell, CBI chief policy director.

Whilst firms have been stepping up to address labour shortages through further investment and training, these steps take time and do little to ease the pressure firms are facing now.

Watch: What is inflation and why is it important?

Read this article:

UK firms warn staff shortages biggest threat as Brexit begins to bite - Yahoo News

British citizens in the last few months have been unfairly turned away from EU flights because of a confusion over passport expiry dates.

Thought it was already too complicated to fly from the UK to the EU these days? If COVID-19 hadnt made travel hard enough, Brexit has thrown another spanner in the works for Brits just trying to get away.

If you have been turned away from a flight recently, theres a chance the government might owe you thousands of pounds in compensation.

The EU requires that travellers from other countries have a passport thats been issued in the past 10 years and will be valid for three more months after the date you plan to leave the EU.

But the UK has been enforcing stricter rules than this, turning away passengers if they have a passport valid for less than six months.

As a result, many passengers who should have been allowed to enter the EU have been denied the chance altogether.

In response to the news, the UK government claims that it was just taking a risk-averse approach to the two rules - that a passport must have been issued 10 years ago AND have at least three months left upon exiting the EU.

We make no apology for taking a risk-averse approach to ensure our citizens do not face issues at borders, a spokesperson says.

While the UK has been stopping people with passports issued more than nine years and nine months ago, the EU has confirmed that the two conditions work independently.

As long as a passport was issued 10 years ago, and has three months left of validity, the passenger is allowed entry.

One of the first agencies to put their hands up and admit the mistake is Tui.

It changed its boarding policy to be in line with the EUs requirements, but its taken a number of disgruntled passengers being turned away to reach this point.

Martin Stubbs was planning on flying from Birmingham to Crete with his wife in August. His wifes passport was valid by the EUs rules but not by the UKs so when they rang to check three days before the flight, Tui told him they wouldnt be allowed to board.

We were lucky that we could rebook at a cost of 1,005 (1,176.44). But knowing now they have got the rules wrong, very frustrating, Martin told Euronews Travel. He is yet to receive a refund or any compensation.

We were looking forward to this holiday for two weeks, but it was taken away from us three days before we were due to depart.

Vanessa Pritchard-Wilkes told the Independent that Tui turned her away from a flight from Birmingham to Tenerife last week, even though her passport met the EUs conditions.

She and her husband had spent over 1,600 (1876.68) on their holiday and then spent an extra 177 (207.65) for a new passport to start her holiday four days later.

Following new information provided, we can confirm that we have now changed our policy accordingly. Customers will not be denied boarding on the basis that their passport needs to meet both conditions dependently, Tui has announced.

EasyJet has also released a statement saying that despite UK government advice not changing, they are now following the information from the European Commission instead.

If you have been turned away despite having the proper documentation, you are likely to be owed compensation.

Air passengers rights rules say that Brits denied entry to a flight to Europe could be entitled to up to 350 (409.70) in cash as well as a full refund.

With entire families being turned away, claims are expected to run into the thousands and may cost the government millions in total.

See the original post here:

Post-Brexit passport blunder could mean Brits are owed thousands - Euronews

Brussels shipped off 16 youngsters on jaunts across the Continent in a European Union propaganda push. The jollies which cost around 312,500 per person included once-in-a-lifetime opportunities, such as meeting Santa Claus in Lapland, beer brewing classes, wine tasting and tickets to music festivals. The money was spent between 2018 and 2019, meaning British taxpayers forked out 650,000 for the project.

German MEP Nicolaus Fest, who unearthed some of the items, said: There are three constants in the EU: bureaucracy, waste and nonsense.

Here the EU displays this better than ever by generously funding young travellers to jet set around Europe guzzling wine, crafting beer and partying at music festivals.

How exactly the EU can justify such woeful expenditure as being beneficial to the ordinary people of Europe is beyond me.

This is quite clearly an expensive vanity project gone wrong which will no doubt leave most citizens bewildered and angry.

The project was set up to counter a lack of awareness about EU-funded projects, the blocs regional policy department told the MEP.

According to internal documents, the first trip in 2018 set back taxpayers around 1.6million.

Its eight travellers visited destinations in every EU member state apart from island nation Malta.

As well as meeting Santa and crafting their own beer, the youngsters were treated to fishing expeditions and lessons on becoming spies in a Soviet bunker.

The second so-called road trip featured two five-week jaunts between Ireland and Cyprus, as well as Finland and the Canary Islands.

MUST READ:Why Spain is about to cause a major nightmare for the EU

Several videos posted on YouTube showed the travellers guzzling Champagne, drinking beer and making a splash at a water park.

Eurocrats have since boasted that around 55 million video views were generated by the reports from the two trips.

In an email to Mr Fest, they added: In 2018 and 2019, the Road Trip Project allowed young people from different countries and backgrounds to team up, discover the diversity of Europe's regions, see first-hand EU solidarity at work on the ground and, more importantly, to communicate and share their experience with their generation, in their own way and their own words, via social media and video platforms.

Original post:

Why we left! EU spending farce exposed as UK taxpayers forked out 650k on road trips - Daily Express

For employers struggling to find staff, Britains worst labour shortage in decades is seen as putting the economic recovery from lockdown at risk. For workers, it comes as a moment of opportunity.

For the first time in a generation, its a sellers market for workers, said Andy Prendergast, a national secretary at the GMB. The union organiser, who represents drivers and couriers in the logistics sector, said there was a rush of activity among members pushing for better pay and conditions.

With Britain estimated to be short of 100,000 lorry drivers, in the midst of an online shopping boom, hauliers have entered a bidding war, offering recruitment bonuses of up to 1,000 and higher salaries.

Most employers are seeing staff trickle out of the door, and there is a huge risk that the trickle becomes a flood if action isnt taken, Prendergast said. Our message to employers is you need to look at this now, you cant wait for the next pay round in April. There is a genuine fear you will have no staff left.

Not all employers are listening. Industrial disputes are springing up across various sectors despite the shortages, including at Yodel, where more than 250 drivers delivering to Marks & Spencer, Aldi, Very and others have voted to walk out over pay and conditions.

There have been similar disputes at Booker, part of the Tesco empire that manages deliveries for Budgens and Londis convenience stores, and Hanson cement. Ocado is facing strike action after the Observer revealed some staff working for its Ocado Zoom rapid delivery service were being paid at rates that worked out at less than 5 an hour.

After decades of decline, trade union membership in the UK increased for the fourth year in a row in 2020, rising by almost 120,000 as employees sought protection from the risks of Covid-19 and redundancies.

Now on the other side of lockdown, with firms sounding the alarm over job shortages, the role of unions is shifting from saving jobs to boosting pay and conditions.

Kate Bell, the head of employment rights at the TUC, said:The pandemic has certainly changed the role of unions, whether its health and safety, access to sick pay, and now decent terms and conditions. Some of the realisation of the furlough scheme is that unions were heavily involved, and really showed why you need collective action.

A report from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) on Thursday showed a lack of EU applicants was contributing to challenges in staffing the reopening of the economy, especially in transport and storage, as the fallout from Covid collided with Brexit.

Faced with severe shortages, business leaders are calling on the government to expand the visa system to allow employers to hire more staff from overseas, saying this is the only short-term fix for chronic labour shortages.

In the long-run executives acknowledge more investment in training for the domestic workforce is vital; yet are less comfortable talking about pay, warning that heftier wage bills will stoke inflation and hit consumers in the pocket.

Companies have been very happy to apply capitalism to chief executives. When they cant employ on a rate, theyll raise it, but then they refuse to do it for manual staff and cleaners, so were having to organise, Prendergast said.

Businesses across all industries told the ONS a lack of suitable applicants was the main reason for being unable to fill vacancies in late August 2021, with transport and storage firms the most likely to complain about a lack of EU workers.

Among all firms experiencing recruitment challenges, one in four said a reduced number of EU applicants was a factor. This rose to almost one in two (46%) transport and storage businesses, the highest of any sector.

Job vacancies have soared above 1m for the first time, the highest level on record, according to official figures this week. However, average pay still remains below the pre-2008 financial crisis peak, more than 13 years later, after the worst decade for earnings growth since the Napoleonic wars.

Sign up to the daily Business Today email or follow Guardian Business on Twitter at @BusinessDesk

Alex Marshall, the president of the Independent Workers Union of Great Britain, said: Theres not a labour shortage, theres a wage shortage. There are people to do these jobs if the money on offer is right for them to make the sacrifice to do those jobs.

Official figures show inflation-adjusted pay, including bonuses, was 521 a week in July, 1 below the level in February 2008, amid a reluctance among employers to pay higher wages and the impact of a rising cost of living.

Bell said unionised workers were pushing for higher pay after a decade of weak earnings growth. The TUC estimates if wages had risen at the historic trend rate seen before the financial crisis, workers would be 5,900 better off on average.

Workers are right to ask for higher pay rises. It is still a long way behind where it should be, she said.

The governments national living wage has helped the lowest-paid workers. However, Conservative promises made in 2015 to raise the legal floor to 9 an hour by 2020 have not been met, and at 8.91 an hour it remains below the level campaigners say is required to protect workers from falling into poverty.

With terms and conditions steadily whittled down over the years, loyalty to employers was not high at the outset of the UKs labour shortage crisis, Prendergast said.

People have been taken advantage of for years, and now theyre saying: This is my time.

Link:

Its a sellers market for workers: how Covid and Brexit have shaken up UK jobs - The Guardian

The European Parliament approved over 1 billion in subsidies for Ireland to help manage the economic impact of Brexit on Wednesday.

Ireland is by far the biggest beneficiary of the so-called Brexit Adjustment Reserve, a pot of 5.34 billion set aside by the EU for the countries hardest hit by the disruption caused by the departure of the United Kingdom.

Fine Gael MEP for Midlands North West Colm Markey described the funds as hugely welcome and demonstrating a high degree of EU solidarity with Ireland.

The fund was approved with an overwhelming vote of 652 votes in favour versus 32 against. The bulk of the funds will be distributed to Ireland in tranches from now until 2023, with a final 20 per cent allocated in 2025 in an amount calculated according to how the previous money was spent.

The Government has said the sum will be spent on compensating businesses for lost trade, protecting jobs, assisting fishing communities, and for customs infrastructure that is needed at ports.

Sinn Fin MEP Chris MacManus welcomed the funding, and appealed for the Irish Government to spend it on the border region.

The lions share must be directed to helping workers and business decimated by Brexit along the Border, he said in a statement.

Fianna Fil MEP Billy Kelleher called in the European Parliament for the money to go to assist the fishing sector, while the industry body representing the food and drink sector Food Drink Ireland also appealed for funds from the scheme.

The food and drink sector is deeply resilient but now faces major disruption to its markets from Brexit while still contending with the impact of a global pandemic, its director Paul Kelly said in a statement.

A trade delegation of international MEPs led by Fine Gaels Sen Kelly is due to visit Northern Ireland to discuss the impact of its post-Brexit arrangements under the Protocol. The European Commission is expected to propose measures to ease the implementation of the rules in talks with the British government in the coming weeks.

Brexit was not mentioned in the European Commission President Ursula von der Leyens set piece State of the Union address to the European Parliament on Wednesday, a notable absence after years in which the departure of the United Kingdom has featured as a theme in EU debates.

I noticed you never used the B word, Brexit, Fine Gaels Kelly said in his response in parliament to von der Leyens speech. Perhaps an intelligent omission and a message in itself.

View post:

European Parliament approves over 1bn in Brexit subsidies for Ireland - The Irish Times

Maison Bleue in Morningside, which has been open for the past five years, has now closed, with staffing shortages cited as a key reason for the decision.

Despite seeing great success and high demand, Dean Gassabi, 65, who runs Maison Bleue in Edinburgh on Victoria Street as well as the Morningside site with his daughter Layla, 40, has been forced to dispose of the second establishment.

The restaurant was previously closed on a temporary basis for six weeks due to staffing issues, despite Mr Gassabi saying it had been packed.

A report published by Caterer.com last month revealed more than 90,000 workers had left the UKs hospitality sector over the past year.

Mr Gassabi said: My daughter and I work in the business and its absolutely breaking our hearts to dispose of it.

Unfortunately we just dont have the chefs, so all our staff have now been moved to Victoria Street.

We worried that this would happen after Brexit. When the pandemic came, it just aggravated the whole thing and we just found ourselves in this situation.

During lockdown, a lot of European staff went home and they couldnt come back either because of Brexit because they didnt have their visas or because the country was closed due to lockdown.

The sad thing about this is that the demand has been high and the restaurant has been a great success, but we just cant continue like this.

Mr Gassabi said even their suppliers, who he stressed he was fighting with to keep prices low, were facing similar staffing problems.

This is adding to their problems as food supplies are coming in at 2pm for lunchtime service, which begins at midday.

Mr Gassabi noted chefs are being trained in the UK. However, he said it took at least two years for someone to receive appropriate training.

Someone who has started as a KP [kitchen porter] two or three years ago are now applying for head chefs, he said.

"That shows you where we are in the industry and that needs to be reviewed.

To be a head chef in my day, you had to be a chef for ten years to be one.

Everything is also now more expensive such as supplies and wages as a result of Brexit and thats going to transfer to the customers.

Mr Gassabi added: When they see a steak is selling at 70, do you think they are going to buy that? Im not prepared to lower our standards. I am not prepared to put someone on who cant cook or serve or inflate our prices.

The Maison Bleue owner said his 25-year-old Victoria Street restaurant has been saved as a result of the Spaces for People scheme enabling him to have a terrace to host guests.

The Edinburgh restaurateur recently received confirmation the terrace will now remain in place until December 31, which he said would be a godsend to his business.

However, Mr Gassabi is calling for the UK Government to offer work visas to European hospitality employees to ensure they are able to continue working.

At the moment, the hospitality industry doesnt allow you to have a decent life, he said.

A message from the Editor:

Thank you for reading this article. We're more reliant on your support than ever as the shift in consumer habits brought about by Coronavirus impacts our advertisers.

The rest is here:

Edinburgh restaurateur announces closure of Maison Bleue Morningside restaurant and blames Brexit and Covid impact - The Scotsman

Scottish civil servants are to start work on a 'detailed prospectus' for independence so the Scottish government can hold another referendum 'when the Covid crisis has passed', Nicola Sturgeon announcedearlier this month.

The irony of this coming just days beforetheOffice for National Statistics reported that thepercentage of Scots testing positive in a single weekfor Covid-19equated to aroundone in 45 people was lost on the First Minister. These things happen when you're busy fighting to free your people from the tyranny of liberal democracy and free society in one of the richest places on earth.

Deputy First Minister John Swinney subsequently went further when hepromised a 'financial prospectus' on separation that will be 'open and comprehensive and transparent'. Quite the challenge then for Scotland's civil servants. Can they produce an honest prospectus on the realities of independence?

Whatever they come up with, it had better be an improvement on 2013's Scotland's Future, which turned out to be a fantastical piece of spin that failed to produce much needed hard analysis in key areas. Scotland's projected fiscal position, for example, was relegated to one short section in the 650-page report. What lessons can be learned, and what should the new analysis include?

Any new report should have in-depth sections on trade, the border with England, deficit and debt, and currency. It should avoid pointless padding and banalities, which both the 2013 paper and the SNP's updated version, its 2018 Growth Commission report, were guilty of (if only someone had said before that Scotland should aspire to increased productivity!). Crucially, any new paper should include detailed scenario analysis, which was a common feature of reports produced by the UK government on the build up to Brexit.

A useful benchmark might be the UK government's November 2018 paper: EU Exit, Long-term economic analysis. It modelled the outcome of four scenarios, ranging from a no-deal Brexit to the then government's preferred arrangement of an association agreement designed to limit trade friction outside the single market and customs union. Commendably, the paper was honest enough to show that any new arrangement would negatively impact British GDP compared to where it would be under continued EU membership.

A new Scottish civil service-produced paper should aim to be similarly robust and candid. It could present best-case and worst-case scenarios, modelling the economic impact of a smooth divorce in line with Scottish government-preferred timings as well as a non-amicable outcome based on a speedy and messy separation.

Importantly, such a paper, like the 2018 Brexit paper, will have to recognise there is no scenario in which Scotland can depart the UK without economic damage. All scenarios involve crystallising a large and unsustainable deficit by leaving the UK fiscal union, while Sturgeon's government also plans to leave the formal sterling zone with a switch to a risky emerging market-style currency arrangement. These changes would happen overnight on secession day. Other changes that might or might not happen overnight, such as the loss of UK regulatory oversight across industry, will also have to be factored in.

It is inconceivable that this sort of momentous change, unprecedented for an advanced economy, can happen without inflicting serious damage on Scotland. This is the accepted view among respected economists, some of whom have warnedof the real risk of a crippling crisis after independence. Even professor Mark Blyth, who sits on the Scottish government's own economic advisory council, said recently that if deconstructing 30 years of integration with Europe hurts, as per the UK and Brexit, then breaking apart a 300-year-old, much more integrated union will hurt even more. 'It's Brexit times ten,' said Blyth.

That brings us to another crucial component of any upcoming civil service white paper: it must accept the high probability of a severe economic crisis in the months, or even weeks, after independence. It must outline how such a crisis will impact people day-to-day and what emergency measures might be needed in response.

The instigation of capital controls to stem a flood of currency abroad is one obvious possibility; you can picture the news interview with a wealthy Edinburgh resident just turned away from the border checkpoint at Berwick with a suitcase full of cash.

If the government is short of sterling to pay public sector wages and other liabilities, what emergency measures will be brought in to deal with that? The rapid introduction of a new Scottish currency so a Scottish central bank can start printing cash, perhaps? Or an appeal for emergency assistance from abroad? Which parts of the public sector will be given priority to keep functioning while others are closed to save money?

If Sturgeon is serious about producing an honest prospectus then answers to these questions and more will form part of the new white paper. The people of Scotland deserve it. Let's have some project reality for a change.

See the original post here:

Will Scottish independence really be 'Brexit times ten'? - Spectator.co.uk

(Reuters) British ministers will consider easing post-Brexit immigration rules to help end a shortage of truck drivers amid mounting pressure from supermarket chains, The Times newspaper reported.

A review of the shortage occupation list, which gives employers more flexibility to hire overseas recruits, could be brought forward to tackle an estimated shortfall of 100,000 drivers, the newspaper said, citing an unnamed government source.

The review was due next year but may be fast-tracked to add heavy goods vehicle (HGV) drivers to the list, the report added.

The Financial Times newspaper reported earlier on Friday that ministers have told businesses to hire UK-based workers to address the countrys chronic shortage of lorry drivers.

British retailers, cafes and restaurants are struggling to cope with a shortage https://www.reuters.com/world/uk/britain-could-face-food-shortages-due-lorry-driver-crisis-2021-06-25 of drivers and food processing staff after COVID-19.

The problem is not unique to Britain the United States and other European countries also have truck driver shortages but Brexit has made matters worse, industry groups say https://www.reuters.com/world/uk/fast-food-chain-nandos-temporarily-shuts-over-40-uk-outlets-2021-08-17.

McDonalds, KFC, bakery chain Greggs and chicken restaurant chain Nandos have all recently faced disruptions in their supplies.

Unprecedented shortages of both staff and materials are hampering Britains post-lockdown economic rebound, a closely watched economic survey showed on Monday.

(Reporting by Kanishka Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Michael Perry)

Excerpt from:

UK mulls easing post-Brexit immigration rules to end truck driver shortage -The Times - KFGO News