Industry risks rerun of recruitment crisis without younger drivers

Road transport has emerged from the driver short­age and Covid crisis of the early 2020s still over-reli­ant on the same shrinking pool of ageing drivers and temporary workers from Eastern Europe, according to an analysis of Office for National Statistics data by Kieran Smith of agency Driver Require.

Meanwhile, a boost to driver apprenticeships has been welcomed by the industry, but training for tech­nicians is felt to be still underfunded.

In the Driver Require report – HGV Driver Short­age Crisis: Where Are We Now? – Smith argues that the long-forecast crisis shortage of drivers came to a head in 2021 when a large number of older drivers gave up because of the risks and pressures of the Covid epidemic.

The shortage of drivers became so dire that em­ployers were forced to raise wages by 30 per cent or more to keep trucks on the road, but not before there were notable shortages of food and fuel at re­tail outlets.

Higher wages and the promise of better condi­tions had restored the truck-driving pool back to the pre-pandemic level of over 300,000 by the middle of 2022, with many temporarily ‘retired’ men returning to the steering wheel.

He points out that the driver age profile has re­mained stable over the year, and that, once again, Eastern Europeans served to make up the num­bers required to meet seasonal peaks in demand for drivers with 50,000 EU drivers appearing over Christmas 2022. He describes the industry as hav­ing reverted to the pre-pandemic “chronic low-level shortage”.

While singling out attempts to improve driver roadside facilities and initiatives such as Generation Logistics as worthy of praise, he warns that the in­dustry is still failing to attract sufficient young drivers to replace those retiring or leaving the industry for other reasons.

“Without interventions to address this issue, we will see a depletion of the workforce that will even­tually result in another shortage crisis, although this could be a decade away,” he writes.

While the trend in recruiting drivers under the age of 30 is generally positive, numbers in each age group have not shifted dramatically since 2022.

Smith reiterates that still not enough younger drivers are be­ing recruited to replace those lost to natural wastage at the top: “This churn will increase as infla­tion erodes the salary increases achieved in 2021 until eventually another shortage crisis will occur. The sector can avoid this by main­taining driver pay rates, improving working conditions and attracting more younger drivers into the workforce.

“This will be hard to achieve in the face of hostile economic forces, such as powerful consol­idated buyers, rising fuel costs coupled with rising core inflation, and the need to invest in zero-car­bon technologies.”

Meanwhile, both the RHA and Logistics UK have welcomed a government announcement that the funding band for the HGV C+E apprenticeship has risen from £7,000 to £8,000, but say tech­nician apprentices require more support.

The RHA’s policy lead for skills and drivers Sally Gilson said of the C+E boost: “This move is much needed given rising costs and in­flation, and will help get more new drivers behind the wheel.”

Jonas Keat, policy advisor at Logistics UK, said: “While it is encouraging to note an increase in funding for the HGV C+E ap­prenticeship… the announced financial support to the Heavy Vehicle Service and Maintenance apprenticeship is limited. In 2017, funding for this apprenticeship was £18,000, however in 2018 this was lowered to £15,000. While we are pleased that the an­nouncement includes an increase in funding to £20,000, this only represents a £2,000 rise since 2017.”

The RHA says this is a real-terms reduction and falls short of the £23,000 needed to ensure that the courses are viable to run.

In a recent joint letter with key industry figures to ministers, the RHA said the number of colleges and training providers offering the course had fallen from more than 100 in 2010 to 41 in 2023, despite a growing requirement.

Rising costs and a lack of funding support were among the reasons fewer courses and apprenticeships were available, said the association, while train­ing providers were being expect­ed to subsidise essential costs to run the schemes.

Sally Gilson said: “This is a missed opportunity to help our industry tackle the shortage of technicians.

“The underfunding of these courses has had a profound im­pact on bringing new talent into the industry.

“We acknowledge the in­creased funding band but realis­tically it falls short to encourage training providers to run these courses. We also run the risk of current providers leaving the market.

“We urge ministers to recon­sider and pledge the £23,000 funding we need.”

Jonas Keat added: “Currently, there are limited providers of the Heavy Vehicle Service and Main­tenance apprenticeship course across the UK.

“This is primarily due to the high cost of the course, which often generates a loss in reve­nue for most training providers. We are therefore disappointed to see that the outcome of this review has failed to recognise the needs of industry; if skills shortages are to be resolved, sufficient support must be given to the providers who are being relied upon to deliver this train­ing.

“Logistics UK will now contin­ue to engage with government to prevent the number of courses from further declining.”