Crisis looms in driver shortage by Karen Miles • Transport
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bosses this week face compelling new evidence that driver shortages will hit crisis point as the industry moves towards the millennium.
The current lack of drivers, particularly those with C&E licences, will become more acute if operators fail to prepare for the extra shortages which Brussels-led changes will create, warns a report by the Freight Transport Association.
The report, A Survey of Transport and Distribution Skills, predicts that unless action is taken soon, hauliers will end up scrapping over a dwindling number of ageing drivers.
This follows a survey of 56 companies, which between them operate from a total of 649 depots and employ nearly 37,000 transport staff.
The report—the first of its kind for more than a decade—reveals that nearly 60% of companies are having trouble finding C&E drivers and another 15% are reporting regular shortages. An additional 5% are suffering severe problems.
The report cites two main reasons: the sector is unattractive to potential recruits (there has been a 64% drop in the number of new HGV licences issued in the past year) and employers are failing to invest in driver training for fear of poaching by competitors.
Driver agencies are failing to meet the industry's needs, it adds.
EU legislation, including the impending 48-hour week and revisions to the drivers' hours rules, will increase the demand for drivers, making skill shortages more acute than ever, the report concludes.