Delivery driver shortage not just down to the pandemic

Both the Road Haulage Association (RHA) and Logistics UK (formerly the Freight Transport Association), have said this week that the driver shortage is not simply about drivers being ‘pinged’ by the NHS Covid app.

Both associations say that there is a national shortage of around 100,000 HGV drivers, partly because there is no longer such easy access to drivers from the European Union.

Another factor is the cancellation of driving tests during lockdown.

RHA chief executive Richard Burnett told Sky News that to train that number of drivers would take at least 18 months and that in the meantime delivery firms might struggle to get goods onto shelves.

One of the measures that hauliers’ leaders are asking for is that HGV drivers might be put on the government’s skilled worker shortage occupation list.

Logistics UK has also this week issued a guide for haulage firms on how to make best use of government funding to recruit and train new drivers.

Bigger companies are already paying more to recruit drivers.

M&S logistics partner Gist is offering a £2,000 signing on bonus while John Lewis is paying HGV drivers £5,000 extra per year.