The RHA has met with business secretary Vince Cable to highlight the impact the current driver shortage is having on the economy and how it could be addressed.
In a meeting last week RHA chief executive Richard Burnett also put across the industry’s need for a government training fund to help aspiring HGV drivers acquire their licence, which he said appears to be available but not accessible.
Burnett told Motortransport.co.uk: “We discussed at length the driver shortage issue and the impact that is having on the economy. If it is made, we have to deliver it somehow.
“He took it very seriously and recognised there is an issue.”
Burnett said that it has become clear that the RHA must also influence the DWP, DfT and the Treasury in order to achieve some sort of funding for the training of new HGV drivers, rather than just one part of government.
It expects to attend a roundtable discussion with representatives from the Treasury, the DfT, and the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills within the next couple of weeks.
