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“It will be necessary to prepare and deploy various military tank truck drivers as necessary to stabilize the fuel supply chain,” the ministry said in a statement from the Ministry of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy.
There are long lines of drivers across the UK at service stations, forcing the government to use emergency measures to prioritize workers in the healthcare and other essential sectors.
The government says the cause of the crisis is a shortage of gasoline drivers and an unprecedented demand for fuel.
Army drivers will receive special training before deployment if the crisis does not subside in the coming days.
“While the fuel industry expects demand to return to normal levels in the coming days, it will be right for us to take these prudent precautions,” said UK Trade Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng.
“If necessary, the deployment of military personnel as a temporary measure will provide the supply chain with additional capacity to help reduce pressure from growing local demand for fuel,” he added.
The government has already made concessions on the strict immigration policy that followed Brexit and offered short-term visa-free trips to foreign truckers to fill the gap.
Energy companies, including Shell, BP and Esso, said “UK refineries are high in fuel content” and expressed hope that demand would return to normal within a few days, easing the pressure.
“We encourage everyone to buy fuel as usual,” the companies said in a joint statement.
However, even at night there were long lines at gas stations and annoying drivers flocked.
“It just came to our attention then. If I can’t get gas now, I won’t be able to get a job anymore,” said driver David Hart, queuing at a gas station in London after a weekend of futile searching.
Unison, the UK’s largest public sector union, said workers in key sectors, including doctors, nurses, teachers and police, should be given priority and should not be forced to stand in line.
Some medical facilities have already reported that their staff had difficulty getting to work, and schools have warned that online training could resume if teachers are unable to access classes.
According to the Gasoline Retailers Association (PRA), nearly half of the 8,000. UK gas stations ran out of gas on Sunday.
