The road haulage industry should be given a two-year deadline to modernize its truck drivers’ facilities with clean showers, healthy food and places for women drivers, or face a new tax, ministers said.
On Wednesday, an inter-party group of lawmakers called on the logistics industry to “put its house in order” by improving accommodation facilities for drivers and providing new training routes to hire more truck drivers from different backgrounds. This comes as the sector struggles with a shortage of heavy-duty (HGV) drivers, leading to regular fuel shortages at petrol stations and empty supermarket shelves.
Last year, the Road Transport Association, the industry’s trade body, estimated that there was a shortage of 100,000 truck drivers due to the coronavirus and Brexit crises. It is now estimated that the shortage has been reduced to about 65,000 drivers.
The Commons Transport Selection Committee said that if the changes were not made within two years, the most profitable parts of the sector would face a new tax.
Under the proposed supply chain levy, large supermarkets, oil companies and online giants could be forced to pay for new equipment for heavy-duty drivers.
“We call on the government to be bold and force the sector to tidy up its house,” said Hugh Merriman, chairman of the Conservative Committee. “The supply chain tax has worked before to stimulate reform.
“If the industry doesn’t make a difference, the government has to do it and send the bill to them through increased taxes to those who produce and sell and make the most profit.”
The commission’s report, the Road Supply Chain, found that “the main reason drivers do not stay in the sector is the lack of high-quality leisure facilities”.
The report calls for the introduction of minimum standards for facilities, including security, clean showers and toilets, healthy food options and services for women drivers.
Drivers quoted in the report expressed concern about “poor washing facilities” at night stops, including dirty and “vandalized” showers. The report says that some official stay services are so poor that drivers prefer to park on the spot overnight – a practice called “fly parking”, which can lead to fines.
The committee said the industry needs to do more to encourage women and younger people to drive trucks.
“Women make up only 1% of the workforce. The share of people under the age of 25 is below 3%, “Meriman said. “For too long, this lack of diversity has led to the retirement of more drivers than hiring.
“We have been here before. In 2016, the Transport Committee called for action in the transport sector, but little has changed. Lack of diversity is holding back the expansion of the workforce. “
The Commission also called on road haulage companies to pay for the special training needed to drive heavy goods vehicles. Currently, the costs are borne by the drivers.
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Meriman added: “The long-term solution lies in moving more freight to rail and water transport. This will help decarbonise the sector and make it more attractive to drivers who want to work shorter distances; drivers who want to see their families at the end of a hard day, instead of facing anti-social and dangerous nights, sleep in their cabins. In the short term, we need better conditions to make the relocation of basic goods a good career choice.
The Road Freight Association, which is a road freight company with more than 7,000 members, said it “broadly welcomes” the report and that many of the recommendations are in line with its own demands for change. It adds: “We value the principles behind the supply chain, but we need reassurance that this will not lead to undue cost pressures.
“We are concerned that the industry cannot make the necessary changes to avoid the tax in just two years, when so many of these changes are beyond the control of the industry.
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