LONDON, (Reuters) – Britain is deploying nearly 200 tanker crew members, 100 of whom are drivers, starting Monday. This will help with fuel delivery to stations and address a shortage in heavy goods vehicle (HGV (heavy goods vehicle)) drivers.

British gasoline stations are still running dry Friday, despite a week of chaos that saw panic-buying and fights at the pumps. Drivers also hoarded fuel in plastic bottles as a result of the severe shortages experienced by truckers.

Boris Johnson’s Prime Minister has maintained for days that the crisis was over or under control, while retailers reported more than 2,000 empty gas stations and Reuters correspondents across London and south England reporting on dozens of closed pumps.

The British government stated that the current training of military personnel is being done at various haulier sites throughout Britain.

“While the situation is stabilising, our Armed Forces are there to fill in any critical vacancies and help keep the country on the move by supporting the industry to deliver fuel to forecourts,” said Defence Minister Ben Wallace.

The government announced last Sunday that it would issue temporary visas to 5,000 truck drivers from abroad and 5,500 workers in poultry to ease shortages.

Truck drivers stated that they wouldn’t accept visas because it was too short.

Friday’s changes were made by the government. A specialized scheme was created to permit up to 300 tanker truck drivers to visit the UK on an immediate basis, although only for a short time. 

These 300 can stay in the UK up to March 2022 as part of the remaining 5,000. 4.700 more will be arriving in late October, and they’ll leave at the end of February 2022.

According to the government, the 5,500 workers in poultry will be arriving by late October. They can stay up until December 31st.

“The introduction of these temporary, time-limited visa measures, does not detract from our commitment to upskill and increase the wages of our domestic labour, but is in recognition of the extraordinary set of circumstances affecting the stability of the UK supply chain,” it said.