They pay more for non-distribution jobs. You, usually, have to pay thousands to train on an HGV, it requires substantial time and training, and it is relatively stressful job...and you can make more working in Tesco stacking shelves. You make way more working in an Amazon warehouse. The pay for distribution jobs in Tesco outside of online and Amazon deliveries is actually pretty poor.

There was a huge shortage of HGV drivers before Covid, and before Brexit...it is just the govt and industry did literally nothing, even though they knew the average age of drivers is 55+, and all the drivers are retiring because of the conditions.

I think the big problem was less Brexit, and more the fact that the industry relied very heavily on cheap foreign labour that all went back to their countries when Covid hit.

There are problems with production too but they are largely: people having to self-isolate, and industrial action (it hasn't been in the media but strikes have hit certain companies, unf the big trade unions smell blood so they are pushing hard to shutdown the economy again).

But most supermarkets got what they had coming to them. Lidl was totally boycotted earlier last month because they had a habit of making drivers wait hours until they were ready to unload, and refusing any delivery if it was 15 minutes late. Some stores were totally empty...and they learned their lesson.

Also, I will say too: I haven't really noticed any shortages, two months ago my supermarket had some trouble getting a certain brand of bakery products for a couple of days...that was it (although some producers have been hit, it isn't widespread at all). Newspapers in the UK just have a real fetish for this topic because Brits are obsessed with this kind of thing (the panic buying at the start of Covid was insane...even then, there were no real shortages but Brits love this kind of thing).