If you’ve been reading the news in the past few months, then you’ll know that recent moves by industry organisations and the UK government have served to ease the shortfall in HGV driver numbers – to a degree. A modicum of improvement has been seen, but there’s no doubt that there’s still a long way to go.

So long as the logistics industry faces a significant shortfall in HGV drivers, businesses, the economy and ultimately, consumers will continue to be impacted. You only have to look back to the Autumn of 2021 to see what that impact looks like, with petrol shortages and empty shelves abound.

So, how can this issue be tackled? Well, at HGVC, we believe that the answer lies in carrying on addressing barriers to entry into the profession. This is key to solving the problem, as is improving driver retention long-term, so that the issue doesn’t reappear further down the line.

An Acute, Ongoing Shortage

The reality of the situation is that there has been a chronic HGV driver shortage for some time now and there are a number of reasons behind it. Those taking HGV driver training typically have to pay for it themselves and it’s expensive. £3,000 is a lot of money to younger trainees and this often means that HGV driver training is simply out of their reach.

Currently, 50 is the average age of a UK lorry driver and when combined with the high cost of training, it has created a situation where there just aren’t enough new drivers entering the profession to replace those leaving through retirement. It’s a problem that was made so much worse when Covid-19 hit.

Coronavirus Turned the Shortage Into a Crisis

Lockdowns and social distancing restrictions severely restricted national HGV testing capacity, meaning that even those able to pay for their training, couldn’t take their test. This led to a worsening of the problem, as 25,000 fewer HGV candidates obtained their licence in 2021 when compared to the previous year.

So, where we find ourselves now is at the end of a road that has seen the number of HGV drivers working in the UK drop steadily. According to the Office for National Statistics, in 2017, there were 321,000 lorry drivers in the UK, but just four years later, that figure stands at 268,000.

Finding a Solution to the Problem

The first problem that must be solved is the high cost of training and to achieve this, the government has taken positive steps. Back in December of 2021, the Department of Education (DoE) launched their HGV Driving Skills Bootcamps, which will eventually offer full funding for as many as 11,000 candidates.

This important scheme is one that’s helped to eliminate one of the biggest barriers to entering the profession – the cost. At the Driver Academy, we’ve seen a huge spike in interest in the scheme since its launch, with an impressive number of applications received – 8,300 to be exact.

Diversity Has Also Improved

Furthermore, the diversity of applicants coming forward has increased, with people from all walks of life showing interest in becoming HGV drivers. For instance, the proportion of ethnically diverse and female applicants is already much higher than currently exists in the industry.

Based on the success of the scheme so far and the generated interest, there’s more than a compelling argument that the DoE should extend the Skills Bootcamps for an extra year. This would help to continue the trend, as well as encourage the necessary new blood into the industry.

It would also serve to demonstrate how the government and industry is able to collaborate in order to solve critical issues.

Taking a Long-Term view

Looking to the future, we’d also like to see the haulage industry and UK government work together to improve the industry’s driver retention rates. In some ways, companies have responded, with pay increasing dramatically over the last year and working conditions improving, as the value of each HGV driver becomes ever clearer.

That said, in other areas, the industry has become stagnant, with the best example of this being that the Driver Certificate of Professional Competence (DQC) requires 35 hours’ training every 5 years. Often seen as irrelevant, boring, repetitive and costly, many consider this aspect of HGV driving as sufficient reason to leave.

Time to Overhaul the DQC System

As such, we believe it’s time for an overhaul of the DQC system, with the necessary courses needing to be modular and uniform. Courses could cover important elements like Healthy & Safety, hazardous loads, advanced driving skills and more.

Instead of repetitive training, there should be incremental skill-level building, allowing drivers to take on more responsibility and enjoy higher salaries. If the government is serious about improving the landscape for HGV drivers in the UK, assisting workers to acquire new skills will play a critical part.

For the logistics industry as a whole, an approach of this kind would help to increase driver retention and go a long way to alleviating the ongoing supply chain issues that have been seen across the UK and wider EU.

Industry-Leading Licence Acquisition Programs

At HGVC, we understand the complexities of the challenges faced by the UK Haulage industry, but we believe that with the right approach, we can achieve the changes the sector desperately needs. While this is happening, we will continue to provide industry-leading, scalable, HGV licence acquisition programs via our network of training centres.

If you’d like to find out more about us and how we do things, we recommend that you take a look around our website. Alternatively, to get in touch with us, all that’s required is that you click on ‘contact us’ or call us on 0330 818 8888 today and we’ll be happy to discuss your driver training needs.