The shortage of HGV drivers is beginning to show signs of improvement, but investment in training and recruitment is still needed.
A report by trade association Logistics UK has found that the number of drivers leaving the profession has begun to ease, while there are more trainees coming through the testing system.
It found there had been a 25.6% increase in the number of HGV driver tests taken between July and September 2021 compared to the same three months in 2019. There has also been a three-fold increase in applications for provisional HGV licences.
Its Employer Skills Survey cites figures from the Office for National Statistics that show the transport and storage sector has an above average number of vacancies. The number of roles open in transport, logistics and warehouse companies was 75% above average in October, it found.
Average driver pay increased by 10% in the nine months to October 2021.
The government has introduced a raft of measures since the driver shortage intensified in September, including a temporary relaxation of maximum driving hours, the issuing of 5,000 temporary visas for overseas drivers and changes to the rules on ‘cabotage’, meaning overseas drivers can make more deliveries in one trip.
A number of employers increased wages in the sector to attract recruits amid fears vital pre-Christmas deliveries could be disrupted.
But Logistics UK said more action is still needed to make the sector attractive to new recruits.
During the 2019/20 financial year, only 15% of apprenticeship levy payers in the sector fully utilised the funds available to them, the report found. The number of transport apprenticeships started in the last five years is less than half the 30,000 target set in 2015 by the government.
The trade body has long campaigned for more and better roadside facilities for drivers, as this is believed to be one of the reasons they leave the profession. It is also cited as a key reason there are not more female HGV drivers.
The report adds: “To attract a more gender-diverse workforce will likely require a dramatic improvement in driver facilities, such as safe places to rest, sleep and take refreshment breaks.
“The government can enable the provision of more suitable parking space. Logistics UK has campaigned for years to create more secure HGV parking spaces with suitable facilities and although government ministers have made promises to deliver, and Highways England has undertaken studies of what might be delivered, the shortfall of at least 650 spaces remains.”
The report also calls for an investigation into why the logistics workforce is overwhelmingly white – 89.8% of employees describe themselves as ethnically white, according to Logistics UK.
Elizabeth de Jong, policy director at Logistics UK, said the resilience of the sector during this difficult period had been “incredible”. But she warned that there was not “cause for complacency just yet”.
“Although average driver pay surged 10% in the nine months to October 2021 in order to retain existing staff and attract new drivers, smaller fleet operators are still not back to full fleet capacity after the Covid-19 pandemic shutdown, and their inability to compete for drivers by offering higher wages appears to be hindering their efforts to recruit new staff.
Sign up to our weekly round-up of HR news and guidance
Receive the Personnel Today Direct e-newsletter every Wednesday
“Government announcements to help address issues across our sector, including increasing driver testing throughput, funding Skills Bootcamps to train HGV drivers and a commitment to improved overnight parking provision, have been at pace. There needs to be continued focus from government to ensure they are delivered, so business and industry can take full advantage and continue to raise awareness of logistics and the opportunities it offers.”
HR roles in the travel and transport on Personnel Today
Browse more HR roles in the travel and transport sector
