Major supermarket chains in the UK are offering cash bonuses for truck drivers, as Brexit and the COVID-19 pandemic leaves tens of thousands of jobs unfilled and shop shelves increasingly empty.
Industry warnings of crisis affecting supplies of everything from milk to sweets and tonic water have intensified, along with demands for the British government to act fast or risk disruption leading up to Christmas.
“It’s a perfect storm,” Rob Hollyman, director of the haulage company North West Cargo, told reporters in an interview.
His company owns 160 trucks, but is struggling to fill up to 30 vacancies for drivers across its three depots in northwest England.
Nationwide, according to the Road Haulage Association (RHA), the shortfall runs to 100,000 truck drivers — out of a total trucking workforce of 300,000.
Like many other UK hauliers, North West Cargo used to fill its cabs with drivers from eastern Europe.
However, the UK’s exit from the EU and the introduction of onerous new visa rules triggered an exodus.
Meanwhile, an estimated 20,000 trainee British drivers are stuck in the pipeline, with the pandemic causing a months-long backlog for license tests. Like other UK industries, road haulage is suffering a “pingdemic” caused by many drivers being told by a government app to self-isolate after coming into contact with someone who has tested positive for COVID-19.
“We have the work, but we don’t have the drivers to do that,” said Hollyman, who complained that he is being outpriced by bigger operators as a bidding war opens up to entice new drivers.
“It’s a big issue. There is a limited number of drivers in this country and all that is happening is that resource is being pulled in one direction,” he said, referring to supermarket chains like Tesco.
BONUSES, RAISES
The UK’s biggest grocer has announced starting bonuses of ￡1,000 (US$1,388) to lure new recruits to operate its heavy goods vehicles (HGVs).
The John Lewis Partnership, which runs the Waitrose chain of supermarkets, says it would raise its HGV driver salaries by up to ￡5,000 to ensure it can offer “market competitive rates.”
“We’re firefighting right now,” said Shane Brennan, chief executive of the Cold Chain Federation, a logistics association.
“We’re going to have interruptions on the shelves — we’re resigned to that,” he said in the Guardian newspaper.
Arla Foods UK, the country’s biggest dairy supplier, was unable to deliver milk to 600 out of 2,400 stores late last month due to dwindling driver numbers.
“We are trying to avoid a summer of disruption,” managing director Ash Amirahmadi told BBC radio, urging the government to work with the industry “to recognize we are in a crisis and address the issue.”
The government has so far responded by temporarily extending the legal working day for HGV drivers by one hour to 10 hours.
‘STICKING PLASTER’
However, the RHA called the relaxation a “sticking plaster” and, like Logistics UK, an industry group, is urging British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and his government to open up short-term work visas for EU truckers.
“There will definitely still be a shortage of drivers until the New Year simply because there is still a very long queue of people waiting to take a driving test,” Logistics UK general manager for public policy Alex Veitch told reporters. “We do struggle in the sector to recruit younger people and so that was always something that was a worry.”
The average age of a British-born truck driver is 50, according to Logistics UK, and in the first six months of last year, 12,000 European drivers left the country altogether.
“We will have a difficult autumn,” Veitch said, amid warnings of potential shortfalls in the crucial Christmas period if retailers are forced to prioritize deliveries of basic necessities.
British Secretary of State for Transport Grant Shapps last month said that “longer-term solutions must be led first and foremost by industry leaders,” as he announced a package of support including streamlined license tests.
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