Labour Market Shortages

Lorry Driver Shortage: Will Government resolve crisis?
The lack of HGV drivers has very much been the word on the street for a significant length of time and we have seen over the past few years this progress to what those who work in the industry perceive as a potential national crisis. The UK’s supply chain is dependent on the industry and it follows that a driver shortage could be an additional barrier to achieving good real term growth in the UK. Potential reasons for this shortage (but not limited to) are:

• Attractiveness to young people: the desire to be a lorry driver is just not there– hopefully the RHAs annual “Love the Lorry week” will help change this perception.
• More experienced drivers may have retired earlier than planned due to recent changes in CPC requirements – let’s face it you wouldn’t look to teach your grandmother to suck eggs!
• The cost of training: the significant cost of training along with the associated increased insurance premiums may kerb operators from taking this route. The good news hear is that from 1 April 2017, an improvement funding package for apprentices will be available of up to £4,500, with an additional £2,000 depending the apprentices age.

The Brexit storm has now settled and its looking like article 50 will be invoked next year, so unless the European Council and the UK decide to extend the period, the UK should be out of the EU by the end of 2019. If you ask me, saying good bye to the free movement of people will almost certainly add to the driver shortage problem and act as an incentive for hauliers to offshore operating centres.

Disclaimer - All information in this post was correct at time of writing.