A note from our UK Distributor, BookSource:
'Pingdemic'
You might have read in the news recently about the serious ‘Pingdemic’ problem which is affecting the country, and sadly we are not immune.
Last week we encountered several instances where carriers either failed to deliver orders to customers or to collect them from us, and in each instance the common factor has been driver shortage. This was somewhat anticipated by the industry post Brexit, as many drivers left the UK to return to their homes in Europe, but the scale of the pingdemic as the country reopens has been a complete surprise. The Road Haulage Association has warned that the UK is short of around 100,000 HGV drivers.
Whilst carriers have contingencies in place in normal circumstances, these are not normal times and staff shortages are universal across industry. We have revisited our own plans, but we have found it very difficult to put in place any mitigations that would work, mainly because all carriers are or will be affected equally at short notice. There is a concern that consignments may be halted enroute whatever the carrier (post, parcel and pallet).
We will of course continue to manage the situation but in the meantime you (and your customers) should expect some level of disruption over the coming weeks and it is likely to be sudden and indiscriminate.