All Opinion articles – Page 5
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ArticleAre drones the future of home delivery?
A government report last November found the use of drones in logistics could result in £2.8bn of savings and boost productivity.Research by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) said there will be an estimated 11,000 drones in transport and logistics by 2030, which will represent around 14% ...
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ArticleHow global freight shippers can cope with uncertainty in 2022
The year just gone was a difficult year in global logistics due to ongoing volatility. We worked alongside customers navigating the Suez Canal block, hurricanes and cyclones, port and terminal closures due to Covid-19 outbreaks, customs and trade changes, labour shortages and more.I’ve been in the industry since 1997 and ...
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ArticleHow telematics can reduce accidents, overheads and protect your drivers
Recent data published by the DfT has found that vans, LGVs and HGVs were involved in more serious and fatal accidents per mile than any other form of transport. While 37% of these accidents affected car occupants, and 32% involved pedestrians, the psychological toll on a truck driver involved in ...
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ArticleDVSA changes to HGV testing will help ease driver shortage
On November 15, the DVSA introduced changes to the vocational licence 3a & 3b test modules, so that approved training centres and accredited assessors can now undertake the reversing for part 3a of the test.The 3b part of the test still needs to be completed with a DVSA examiner and ...
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ArticleTaking shortcuts on HGV driver testing is not the answer to the driver shortage
Changes to lorry tests to address HGV driver shortages require caps on driver training charges and the introduction of mandatory mentoring schemes to properly solve shortages.We want to see more considered measures ahead of government-led changes being introduced on 15 November 2021. Reducing the length of driver tests is not ...
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ArticleTimes aren't as grim as you may think...
We all thought Black Friday 2020 was tough - well it has nothing on Black Friday 2021! After the toughest of 20 months and now ‘post pandemic’ (are we post pandemic or is it too early to say… Plan B and all that?) this year is tougher than any. Global ...
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ArticleUnlock existing road freight capacity to alleviate driver shortage
Empty running has become an accepted problem in road transport, but with supply chains facing the dual pressures of a national driver shortage and the need to make drastic carbon reductions, it’s time to address the waste. Conservative estimates still suggest 20% of trucks are running empty, and this doesn’t ...
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ArticleA more intelligent approach to freight movements could help ease driver shortage
The Covid-19 pandemic and Brexit’s “over-complications” are causing a severe HGV driver shortage with major consequences to supply chains into the UK. Supermarkets shelves appear empty, restaurants are struggling for supplies and people are starting to worry about Christmas.And even though we believe that the forces behind driver shortages might ...
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ArticleForget cabotage and show us some respect....
So, the government has another genius solution to wreck the transport industry further through changes to the cabotage rules. All these 'solutions' will not fix the industry, they will harm it further.A quick fix to the driver shortage does not exist. The problem took many years to manifest itself, so ...
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ArticleConsequences of driver shortage can prove a positive for the industry
Given the amount of publicity there has been around the shortfall of HGV drivers, it may have been more appropriate for the RHA to rename its National Lorry Week (25-31 October) as National Lorry Drivers' Week.Its aim is to highlight just how important the logistics industry is to this country ...
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ArticleShould the Driver CPC be suspended? Or is there a better short-term solution?
The current shortage of HGV drivers has been attributed to various causes including Brexit, training and administration delays due to Covid, as well as the poor working conditions experienced by drivers when they are out on the road. All of these have contributed to an issue that has been building ...
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ArticleReasons businesses say 'no' to zero-emissions deliveries
The eyes of the world are on Glasgow for the COP26 Summit on Climate Change. But while everyone might be looking, it’s a fair bet to say plenty of people involved in the UK’s logistics sector aren’t really listening. Sure, those involved in the delivery business are all talking a ...
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ArticleTransport and manufacturing need to address skills shortages to thrive
I was honoured to be inducted into the Motor Transport Hall of Fame this month, and it was lovely to meet up with former colleagues from my time in transport journalism and the RHA at the MT Awards. The event also prompted me to compare the HGV driver shortage and ...
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ArticleGoing straight to C+E HGV tests is not without risk
Whilst recognising the current driver shortage crisis, the government plans to change how drivers obtain an HGV licence comes with increased risk. The combining of category C and category C+E tests is likely to mean that prospective drivers have less time to develop their hazard perception skills and research has ...
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'Road to zero' can sometimes feel like the road to nowhere
The original UK government transport policy on emissions control published in 2018 was titled the ‘Road to zero’. In the aftermath of the ground-breaking Paris Agreement in 2015, a global plan to restrict air temperature rise to 1.5 deg was agreed by almost every nation in the world, and to ...
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ArticleThe absurdity of forcibly retiring drivers on spurious grounds in a skills crisis
As the country pulls away from the Covid crisis, and rightly gets back to work, demand across industry is sure to increase. This could well bring on another crisis, this time far more economically driven. When the hospitality sector fully reopens demands on the transport sector will vastly outstrip current ...
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ArticleWarehouse automation in demand as driver shortage extends to forklift trucks
An exceptional shortage of forklift drivers is prompting more and more UK companies to adopt automated materials handling equipment to optimise the efficiency of their warehouse intralogistics processes.We hear a lot about the problems caused by the present lack of HGV drivers but the scarcity of qualified MHE operators is ...
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ArticleAs leader, I'll transform Unite and put members first
Empty supermarket shelves are the picture of summer 2021. According to the Road Haulage Association, we're short of 100,000 HGV drivers, but the truth is, the sector is an unappealing prospect for workers.Financial inducements to lure drivers won't address the problems at the heart of the industry. The government doesn't ...
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ArticleHoyer is ready for future powered by green hydrogen
Green hydrogen is a key to many countries and continental communities achieving climate neutrality. The EU, the US, Canada, Argentina and Japan among others want to be climate-neutral by 2050, and China has set itself this aim by 2060. Global demand for hydrogen will rise significantly in the coming years ...
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ArticleGovernment must dangle carrots as well as wave stick to speed take up of electric LCVs
A record year for EVs. A record year for home deliveries. What comes next? Ideally, the electric van boom.Up until recently, electric LCVs (e-LCVs) were considered somewhat of a fantasy. Batteries weren’t powerful enough - and were too big and cumbersome – to allow for proper cargo transportation.But manufacturers have ...