With the driver shortage still a major issue for fleet mangers, Richard Smith, RHA Managing Director offers his view on the current situation and what steps should be considered to address the problem.
The driver shortage story continues to evolve. Since our Skills Report earlier this year, which highlighted the need for 40,000 new HGV drivers annually, new data suggests we may have lost over 117,000 qualified drivers in just 12 months. That figure includes a surprising number in their 30s and 40s – not just retirees.
Virtually every haulier we speak to is reporting growing driver shortages at levels unseen since the pandemic and the current situation is a culmination of multiple issues that have been building for years. So, what’s going on?
We’re seeing a shift. New drivers are struggling to get permanent roles – often blocked by insurance costs. Lapsed DQCs may reflect a deeper issue: drivers leaving because they feel the system isn’t working for them. Training is expensive and out of reach for many, and nationally funded bootcamps have been withdrawn.
And our sector still sits outside key government priorities like the Industrial Strategy.
Whilst it’s generally true that the specialised sectors such as tankers are much less affected, for the general market mere financial increases in per hour rates aren’t fixing the problem the wider issues run deeper.
The focus on price above all else has been imposed on the industry pretty much as a given by shippers for decades, which has led to much short termism amongst the larger players that take the larger contracts, and an erosion of already thin margins for the smaller hauliers. This causes supply chain vulnerability and risk for those same shippers as haulage capacity shrinks.
We cannot keep relying on salary increases alone to attract and retain talent – especially when operators face rising costs across the board.
Instead, we need to re-engage skilled drivers whose cards have lapsed. We need to invest in entry routes that work for new drivers and employers. And we must secure sustainable training support that reflects the importance of logistics to our economy.
This is about creating the conditions where people see driving as a respected, long-term career. That means joined-up thinking from industry, government, and the wider skills system.
You can read the report here.
