The government is consulting on a relaxation of the rules on how many deliveries overseas HGV drivers can make in a bid to ease the UK’s supply chain issues.
The Department for Transport announced a consultation yesterday (14 October) into a temporary extension of “cabotage” rights, which refers to how many drop-offs a delivery driver can make during a journey.
At the moment, drivers from the EU can only make two trips per week to deliver goods in the UK, but the government plans to drop this limit so they can make unlimited trips over a two-week period.
The consultation will take a week and the measures would come into force at the end of this year – ideally in time for the Christmas rush – and last for six months. The government said the measures would apply to all types of goods.
The HGV driver shortage has been well-documented in recent weeks. At the start of October, the DfT said it would extend the relaxation of maximum driving hours until the end of the month.
The government also released 5,000 temporary visas to allow lorry drivers from overseas to work in the UK until 21 December.
Uptake has been low, however, according to Conservative party chair Oliver Dowden, who has revealed just 20 UK emergency visas have been issued so far.
The DfT claims to have processed thousands of applications for HGV driving licences and streamlined the testing process in a bid to increase driver numbers.
Transport secretary Grant Shapps said: “The long-term answer to the supply chain issues we’re currently experiencing must be developing a high-skill, high-wage economy here in the UK.
“These measures are working – we’ve been seeing up to three times more applications for HGV driving licences than normal as well as a deserved rise in salaries.
“The temporary changes we’re consulting on to cabotage rules will also make sure foreign hauliers in the UK can use their time effectively and get more goods moving in the supply chain at a time of high demand.”
The Road Haulage Association criticised the government’s latest bid to ease the driver shortage. Rod McKenzie, director of policy and public affairs, told the BBC’s Today programme that the plan would allow overseas haulage operators to undercut UK companies.
“This is about taking work from British operators and drivers and giving it to Europeans who don’t pay tax here and pay peanuts to their drivers,” he said. “We don’t want cabotage to sabotage our industry.”
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