UK and EU truck driver shortage: Causes, consequences, and solutions

The heavy goods vehicle (HGV) industry in the United Kingdom faces a major crisis, as the number of drivers has plummeted since 2020. In January 2022, the industry was around 100,000 drivers short, and a year later, that number has only slightly improved, with a deficit of nearly 76,000 drivers, according to Logistics UK.

A Logistics UK report reveals that HGV drivers fell by 30,300 in the first quarter of 2023, raising concerns for shippers and carriers. There are several reasons for the shortage of drivers, including difficulties in recruiting new drivers, a lack of interest in the profession among younger people, and many other reasons we share below. Brexit has also played a significant role in this crisis, making it harder for EU citizens to get work permits in the UK and resulting in fewer drivers in the country.

Let’s look at the trucking industry in the UK and see how it differs from the trucking industry in the EU. We’ll also review reasons for the shortage of truck drivers and ways to attract talent.

* The terms lorry and truck are both used to refer to a heavy goods vehicle (HGV).

The UK isn’t alone in driver shortages; experts warn that European countries could also face trucker shortfalls soon enough. HGVs transport 75% of Europe’s freight and 80% of its perishable, high-value medical goods. This underscores the need to recruit sufficient drivers to keep the UK and European economies moving.

The International Road Transport Union (IRU) warns that Europe’s driver shortage is accelerating rapidly, posing a significant threat to the continent if nothing is done.

The broader European transport sector has faced a longstanding problem of labor shortages, including a lack of truck drivers, trained locomotive drivers, inland shipping and terminal workers, and managers.

In August 2021, the analytical company Transport Intelligence published a study assessing the severity of the driver shortage in various European countries. According to this study, truck driver shortages have grown in recent years. The total driver shortage in Europe exceeded 400,000 by 2021, with Poland, the UK, and Germany the worst affected European countries.

Also in 2021, John Manners-Bell, CEO of Transport Intelligence and an expert on global supply chains and logistics confirmed that the industry had warned governments about the shortage for years. Issues that John Manners-Bell tweeted about in 2021 regarding supply disruptions, rising prices, reports of empty shelves, and the fuel crisis are still unresolved in 2023. Instead, long-term structural problems have been laid bare by a perfect storm of post-pandemic demand volatility, infrastructure shortfalls, red tape, Brexit, and appalling pay and conditions and are still waiting to be resolved.

In 2021, the truck driver shortage was a hot topic in the UK and Europe. Tesco, the UK’s biggest food retailer, calculated that driver deficits created 48 tons of food waste each week in 2021, equal to two truckloads. Besides food waste, across the UK, 18 councils also experienced disruptions to their bin collection due to the lack of truck drivers.

Unfortunately, talent shortages in the trucking industry remained in 2022. In December 2022, IRU was still reporting HGV/lorry/truck driver shortages. The shortage of specialists still threatens mobility and supply chain stability and continuity.

The HGV driver shortage limits the haulage industry’s ability to deliver high-quality services. If something isn’t done to attract more drivers to the industry, the shortage will have a massive impact on goods delivered around the UK and beyond.

As we mentioned earlier, the UK’s truck driver shortage has been developing and ignored by the government for years. Covid and Brexit proved to be the catalysts that exacerbated the situation. Below, we will briefly consider the direct reasons for lorry driver shortages.

Covid-19
Covid-19 and the resulting national lockdowns saw the cancellation of 40,000 HGV driving tests in the UK, which meant few new drivers were joining the industry. Sky News said 25,000 fewer candidates passed their HGV driving test in 2020 compared to 2019. The limited number of new drivers and the average age of current UK truck drivers is 53 highlight the growing issues within the sector.

Many drivers still remember what happened during Christmas 2020 when 4,000 trucks were stuck outside the English port of Dover after France briefly closed its border with the UK and then required everyone to be tested for coronavirus over fears of a new, more contagious variant. According to estimates by the Road Transport Association, the number of trucks stuck near the port reached 10,000 in two days.

Brexit
The UK left the European Union. Brexit has caused 20,000 EU drivers to leave the UK, citing uncertainty over Brexit and future rights to live and work in the UK as the main reason for their departure. After Brexit, thousands of foreign truckers went home, and now the United Kingdom wants them back.

However, drivers aren’t actively returning to their former UK companies. For example, Artur Jarzebski, ex UK truck driver, says he won’t work in the United Kingdom because he no longer feels welcome in post-Brexit Britain.

A big gap between young and experienced truck drivers

As per the Office of National Statistics, in 2021, the average age of lorry drivers in the UK was 48, and 47% of all truck drivers in the United Kingdom were over age 50. According to the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport, in 2022, the average age of drivers had increased to 51; by 2026, over 30% of current truck drivers will retire.

Because of Covid, training for truck drivers slowed down, causing a big gap in hiring new drivers. And with the retirement rate far exceeding the recruitment rate, a dip in the number of drivers is bound to happen. Due to the training gap during the pandemic, four to seven times more drivers are leaving the industry than are entering it, while demand for transport continues increasing.

High job demands

Salary isn’t the main issue in attracting drivers; difficulties arise when young specialists enter the profession. They face a lack of vocational guidance in the transport sector in schools and a lack of incentives and awareness programs.

In October 2022, truck drivers in the UK were forced to sleep at bus stops due to a lack of parking spaces. The UK’s head of logistics policy, Michelle Gardener, has also admitted that British drivers need to be considered more when it comes to safe and secure overnight parking spaces. This problem prevents the industry from recruiting and retaining the skilled workforce it needs. As such, the government must act proactively and work with all stakeholders to ensure these key workers have access to the safe, secure facilities they are entitled to while performing their daily tasks.

Trucking keeps society moving, and reducing the number of drivers hurts the economy. Furthermore, a lack of drivers causes those who are employed in the industry to leave due to poor pay relative to the hours worked. We’ve gathered some tips on how the government, trucking industry, and companies can improve the situation with HGV drivers.

The practice has shown that simplifying the testing process, making more tests available in regions with the highest demand, and abolishing testing requirements for some driving categories (such as towing a trailer) have improved the situation with an acute shortage of truck drivers. For example, Trans.info shared that between January and March 2022, there were 74% more truck inspections than before the pandemic.

The UK government has also provided access to 11,000 funded HGV driver training places through HGV Skills Training. This course attracted a diverse pool of drivers; approximately 30% of the Driving Academy program applicants were under the age of 36.

Employers have paid attention to providing better wages and conditions for drivers. According to Indeed, many new drivers are looking at starting salaries over £40,000 a year.

Moreover, industry representatives are paying more attention to skills development, offering employees opportunities for higher pay and career advancement. By better structuring and streamlining truck driving as a career, it will be clearer how to get into the industry and how drivers can progress.

As training drivers require time and money for premises, trucks, and instructors, operators increasingly turn to fully outsourced driver training. This accelerates driver training, reducing pressure on operator service providers and lowering costs.

Increase pay. A pay rise can make the job more attractive and increase the number of lorry drivers across the UK. According to smartHire, truck drivers can already (today) earn up to £50,000 a year.

Implement talent management. According to a House of Commons Committee report, whether driver wage increases will be sustained is unclear. The report highlights that not all companies that retained drivers during 2020-2022 were the highest payers, but they had good relationships with their drivers. In short, employee appreciation increases motivation and interest in work.

Invest in training services. Even trucking companies invest in training courses to improve their drivers’ skills. The government has already started investing in skills boot camps across the UK. Up to 5,000 people can take a free 16-week training course to become professional truck driver. New and improved apprenticeship schemes are also aimed at getting a younger generation into the industry Richard Smith, managing director of the Road Haulage Association (RHA), 2022 HGV driving tests are set to reach record levels. In March 2022, 6,307 people passed the truck driving courses compared to 4,268 in March 2017.

Transportation companies can also run driver internship programs to attract talent. For example, BCA Automotive — the UK’s largest transport company — launched an LGV (Large Truck) apprenticeship in 2022. The company aimed to help candidates looking to build a career as a lorry driver gain more knowledge about the industry.

However, truck drivers need help managing emotional stress besides practicing driving big vehicles long distances. Lorry drivers spend long hours on the road, affecting their mental health. In addition, drivers spend most of their time away from their friends and family, leading to more stress. Understanding how to deal with this stress will improve the productivity of your employees and prolong their integration with your company.

Listen to truck drivers. Employers shouldn’t treat truckers as resources. There is a person behind the wheel trying to do their job in a highly stressful environment. Trucking companies should constantly ask for feedback on improving their employees’ working conditions.

Many drivers have called on employers to provide more favorable shift patterns, working hours, and breaks to promote better work–life balance and working conditions. In addition, drivers have repeatedly emphasized the need for better service stations, and truck stops with additional amenities. By listening to your employees, you build healthy long-term relationships.

Be more diverse and inclusive. According to an IRU report, only 3% of truck drivers in the UK were women in 2022 — a lower percentage than in China (5%) and the US (8%).

In terms of age, in most regions, young drivers under 25 remain a minority, accounting for 6% or 7% of truck drivers. Transport companies can try the following to improve recruitment:

• Lowering the minimum age for drivers from 21 to 18 years
• Subsidizing license and training costs, which can exceed three average monthly salaries
• Providing better safety for women by offering safer parking spaces
• Improve truck parking and ensure truck stops have toilets and showers in good condition.

The UK economy remains dependent on the road transport sector, so improving conditions for truck drivers and finding new ways to attract young talent are urgent needs. You can innovate your workplace with a combination of the abovementioned solutions.

Trucking companies can try AI-based hiring when looking for HGV/truck/lorry drivers. HRForecast recommends the smartHire feature, which can provide information about relevant skills. smartHire extracts skills from raw job postings and maps them to standard job titles, such as HGV driver. It also uses a recommendation algorithm to predict the top skills for a job based on the following:

• Market trends
• Growth in skills demand
• Proficiency requirements.

You can also get information about salary and time to hire:

smartHire extracts salary and time-to-hire data from job postings. Based on that, the algorithm can analyze how easy or difficult it is to hire a particular role in a specific location (and how expensive it will be).

For example, for the role of a truck driver, we see that it isn’t easy to hire in the United Kingdom compared to Germany owing to political events such as Brexit. We also see that it is more expensive to hire in the UK than in Germany, which shows how our data reflects the market situation.

Feel free to book a call with an HRForecast expert to see smartHire in action and how it can be useful for your business.