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The RHA is meeting with transport minister Baroness Vere and DfT officials tomorrow to demand urgent action on the driver shortage crisis as goods continue to disappear from supermarket shelves across the country and the hospitality industry struggles to get sufficient supplies.

The meeting comes as wholesalers and suppliers warned this week of increasing food shortages in supermarkets, pubs, restaurants and care homes as suppliers’ haulage partners struggle to find enough drivers to ensure deliveries.

The UK is suffering from a shortfall of as many as 65,000 HGV drivers, exacerbated by Brexit, which prompted thousands of EU lorry drivers to leave the UK, the introduction of IR35 tax changes which has driven up driver costs and the lack of driver training during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Rod McKenzie, RHA MD of policy and public affairs, said that RHA will be asking at the very least, that the government immediately extends the drivers hours as a short-term measure, place the role of delivery driver on the UK occupation shortage list, introduce incentives to encourage HGV drivers back into the industry and prioritise HGV driving tests to tackle the backlog created by the pandemic. 

“Extending drivers hours is not the solution, as we have been saying for some time, we need a mix of short-, medium- and long-term action to solve this problem.”

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Asked what he expected to be gained by the meeting, McKenzie said: “We are hoping that the penny has finally dropped with the government and we are confident in the strength of our arguments.”

However, this week the Home Office appeared to reject the idea of boosting driver numbers by using workers from outside the UK.

In a statement, it said: “Employers should focus on investing in our domestic workforce, especially those needing to find new employment, rather than relying on labour from abroad.

“The government is working with the haulage sector to promote jobs, training and a range of other initiatives to get more people into HGV driving.”

Added Alex Veitch, general manager of public policy at Logistics UK: “We want obtain government commitment to work together to solve the driver crisis, and establish an agreement with DFT and other government departments that they will focus on assisting us to fill the skills shortage, at the same time as supporting our members in their own recruitment efforts. This is a terrific opportunity for us to explain the situation to all parts of government and we are looking forward to constructive debate and dialogue."

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