The temporary relaxation of HGV drivers’ maximum driving hours have been extended further as the labour shortage continues to cripple the sector.
The Department for Transport has extended the relaxation, which was set to end on Sunday (3 October), until 31 October.
Unite has said the department had also been considering prolonging the temporary measures until 23 January 2022, but a DfT spokesperson could not confirm this.
Usually, lorry drivers can only drive for 10 hours per day and must take a break of at least 45 minutes after four-and-a-half hours on the road. However, the temporary measures have increased the daily limit to 11 hours and a total of 99 hours per fortnight (usually 90) with rest periods also reduced.
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Unite said the continued relaxation of maximum driving limits would not solve the labour crisis and could compromise safety.
National officer Adrian Jones said: “The government’s response to the lorry driver crisis has been to extend driving hours, reduce training requirements, water down tests and weaken the licence required to drive a tanker. This is a highly dangerous cocktail and will only lessen safety on the UK’s roads.
“The government is still not addressing the reasons why the industry is haemorrhaging lorry drivers. By making the remaining drivers work longer, they may even force more drivers to walk away.”
A 2019 Unite survey found that 54% of lorry drivers work more than 50 hours a week and that three quarters report problems with their physical health due to long hours.
“The set of measures we have introduced to alleviate HGV driver shortages do not compromise on safety,” a DfT spokesperson said.
“The temporary relaxation of drivers’ hours rules allows HGV drivers to make slightly longer journeys, but this must only be used where necessary and safely, and the changes to the testing process will not change the standard of driving required to drive an HGV.”
The shortage of lorry drivers, particularly fuel tanker drivers, has caused chaos on the roads this week, with many motorists unable to get fuel. The government’s reserve tanker fleet has been deployed, with military personnel set to drive fuel tankers within days.
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