London Mayor Sadiq Khan on Monday called on the military to call in “as soon as possible” to help tackle fuel crisis caused by lack of truck drivers in the UK

The military “has the logistics experience and the experience to get in as soon as possible,” he told Times Radio.

Khan’s call comes as more than half of UK service stations outside the motorway network run out of fuel due to a lack of truck drivers to transport it to stations, leading to a weekend of panic shopping across the country.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is holding an emergency meeting with Cabinet ministers and senior officials on Monday to discuss the military’s arrival in gasoline trucks. A government source confirmed POLITICO’s London Playbook plan, but added that it could face some hurdles. Soldiers will still need to be trained to operate a truck filled with highly flammable fuel.

Khan also suggested giving “golden handshakes to those who have recently retired to come back and be heavy truck drivers.”

The government said on Sunday it would issue 5,000 short-term visas for foreign drivers, a long-standing demand from the transport industry.

“You don’t just, after months and months of, frankly, denounce the citizens of the EU, suddenly say we have 5,000 visas, come to the UK. It doesn’t work that way.” , Khan said.

The British government must also hold back competition law to let oil companies handle fuel deliveries to service stations after recent panic buying.