HR professionals in the UK’s haulage industry are bracing themselves for a
recruitment crisis when the EU Road Transport Directive is introduced in March
next year.
The Road Haulage Association (RHA) predicts an extra 60,600 drivers will be
required to compensate for a reduction in driving hours to 48 hours a week.
Lorry drivers currently work around 60 hours a week, and the compulsory
48-hour average will be calculated over a four-month reference period.
Chris Campbell of the Road Haulage and Distribution Training Council said:
"Haulage industry employers are waiting for a recruitment timebomb to go
off.
"Thousands more drivers will be needed to ensure haulage firms achieve
the same productivity in a significantly shorter working week."
The RHA forecasts that the directive will increase operating costs by 5.6
per cent per year through extra wages and the need to pay existing drivers
higher salaries to make up for a reduction in weekly salaries.
Colin Pirie, who manages personnel and logistics at the Aberdeen-based
haulier Balmoral Group, said: "We will be severely affected by the
directive as our drivers work long shifts, trucking freight to and from
England.
"We will have to recruit four extra drivers which may force haulage
rates up by 22 per cent."
HR professionals are now trying to alleviate the crisis by recruiting
drivers through training schemes funded by the Government’s Road Haulage
Modernisation Fund.
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By Andy Moore
