Trade associations representing freight and food industries and several logistics businesses have written to Prime Minister Boris Johnson, stressing the need for action on the crippling effects of the current HGV driver shortage.
The letter warns that the shortage of HGV drivers will have a serious impact on maintaining delivery levels to stores.
“Supermarkets are already reporting that they are not receiving their expected food stocks and, as a result, there is considerable wastage. To make the situation even worse, summer holidays are fast approaching, and drivers will take their leave entitlement," the letter read.
The signatories to the letter include Road haulage Association, Federation of Wholesale Distributors, Food and Drink Federation, British Frozen Food Federation, Cold Chain Federation, British Meat Producers Association and British Beer and Pub Association and businesses like Culina Group, XPO Logistics and Samworth Brothers, among others.
The key asks in the letter include: the introduction of a temporary worker visa for HGV drivers and adding the occupation to the Home Office Shortage Occupation List; immediately establishing a taskforce to include representation from all of the relevant areas of the government and industry; and re-establishing the recently disbanded DEFRA Food Resilience Industry Forum.
Backing the demands, the Federation of Independent Retailers (NFRN) has urged the government to take immediate action to avoid shops being faced with empty shelves.
“Some of our members are already experiencing difficulties in obtaining stock and, if this shortage of drivers is not addressed, the situation will only get worse,” Stuart Reddish, NFRN national president said.
“As many retailers are just starting to recover from the hardships caused by the coronavirus pandemic, the last thing we need is a lack of availability of stock, especially when it comes to essential products.”
Steph McGovern
Lucy Edwards