What is the extent of the truck driver shortage

Concerns about delivery of food, fuel, and other things in the run-up to Christmas have prompted the government to take a variety of efforts to address the lack of HGV drivers.

According to Conservative Party chairman Oliver Dowden, it has established temporary visas for 5,000 truck drivers to work in the UK, albeit only around 20 of the 300 applications have been granted so far.

A combination of Covid, Brexit, and other factors has resulted in a lack of HGV drivers.

How bad has the situation gotten?

According to a study of its members conducted by the Road Haulage Association (RHA), the UK today has a shortfall of more than 100,000 certified drivers.

Thousands of drivers from European Union (EU) member nations who previously lived and worked in the UK are included in this figure.

Why are you doing this now?

Covid is unquestionably contributing to the situation. Many European drivers returned home last year as travel became more limited and significant sectors of the economy shut down. And transport businesses claim that just a small percentage of those who left have returned.

The pandemic also caused a significant backlog in HGV driver testing, making it hard to get enough new drivers on the road.

In June, the sector told the prime minister that 25,000 fewer applicants will pass their exams in 2020 than in 2019.

What are your thoughts on Brexit?

HGV driver shortages exist across Europe, but Brexit has exacerbated the situation in the United Kingdom. Many European drivers who returned home or chose to work in another country are unable to return.

They used to be allowed to come and go as they pleased when the UK was a member of the EU single market.

However, due to changed immigration regulations, this is no longer the case.

There is also new bureaucracy, and the decline in the value of the pound against the euro since the Brexit vote has made working in the UK less attractive for EU nationals.

The pressure on the freight transportation infrastructure comes as Britain prepares to implement customs inspections on products entering the country from the EU. They've been postponed until next year, with some starting in January and others in July.

If they prove to be excessively invasive, it may become even more difficult to get European drivers to work in the United States. Delays cost money for many drivers who are paid by the mile or kilometer rather than by the hour.

Conditions and taxes

There have also been tax adjustments that make working or being employed in the UK more costly for drivers from other European countries.

The reform of the IR35 rules - on how people working off the payroll pay tax - are designed to prevent workers setting up limited companies and paying less tax and National Insurance while working, in effect, as an employee.

What about the province of Northern Ireland?

Northern Ireland, like the rest of the UK, has a scarcity of HGV drivers, but there haven't been any gasoline shortages since tanker drivers aren't as scarce.

Northern Ireland is less dependent on EU drivers, thus the loss of those jobs hasn't had as much of an effect. According to a source in the sector, tanker driving pays higher and has more flexible hours, thus it is in high demand among local drivers.

Northern Ireland's geography also works in its favor: it's just around 100 miles wide, so supply chains aren't as stretched as they are in the rest of the UK.

What steps are being taken to address the shortages?

Ministry of Defense examiners will be brought in to raise the number of HGV driving exams, in addition to admitting more foreign employees into the UK.

Free rigorous 'boot camps' will teach 5,000 individuals to become HGV drivers, with another 1,000 trained via adult education budget-funded courses.

In addition, the government is writing to over one million HGV drivers to persuade them to return to the business.