The road freight sector should have two years to improve truckers’ facilities, with clean showers, healthy food and spaces for women drivers, or a new tax should be addressed. , according to ministers.
On Wednesday, a multi-party group of MPs called on the logistics industry to “put things in order” by improving night-time facilities for drivers and offering new training routes to recruit more truckers from different backgrounds. It occurs when the sector struggles with the lack of heavy vehicle drivers (HGVs), which causes regular fuel shortages in petrol pumps and empty shelves in supermarkets.
Last year, the Road Haulage Association, the industry’s trade body, estimated that there was a shortage of 100,000 truck drivers due to the coronavirus crisis and Brexit. It is now estimated that the shortage has been reduced to about 65,000 drivers.
The select transport committee of the Commons said that if the changes are not made in two years, the most profitable parts of the sector would have to face a new tax.
Under the proposed supply chain tax, large supermarkets, oil companies and online service giants could be forced to pay the cost of new facilities for truck drivers.
“We urge the government to be brave and force the sector to put things in order,” said Huw Merriman, the committee’s Conservative chairman. “A supply chain fee has previously worked to encourage reform.
“If the industry does not offer changes, the government should do so and send the bill to them by raising taxes on those who produce and sell and make more profits.”
The committee’s report, Road Freight Supply Chain, found that “one of the key reasons drivers do not stay in the industry is the lack of high-quality rest facilities.”
The report called for the introduction of minimum standards for facilities, such as security, clean showers and toilets, healthy eating options and services for women drivers.
Drivers quoted in the report expressed concern about “poor washing facilities” in night stopping areas, including dirty and “vandalized” showers. The report said some official stay services were so bad that drivers prefer to park at night stops, a practice called “fly parking” which can lead to fines.
The committee said the industry needs to do more to encourage women and young people to drive trucks.
“Women make up only 1% of the workforce. The proportion of people under the age of 25 is less than 3%,” Merriman said. “For too long, this lack of diversity has seen more drivers retire than hired.
“It simply came to our notice then. 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 committee also asked road haulage companies to pay for the special training required to drive a truck. The cost is currently covered by the drivers.
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Merriman added: “The long-term solution is to move more freight to rail and water. This will help decarbonise the sector and make it more attractive to drivers who want to operate shorter distances; drivers who want to see their families at the end of a hard day instead of facing antisocial and dangerous nights sleeping in their taxis. In the short term, we need better conditions to make the transfer of essential goods a good career choice. “
The Road Freight Association, which represents more than 7,000 members of commercial freight transport companies, said it “broadly welcomed” the report and that many recommendations were in line with its own requests for change. He added: “We appreciate the principles behind the supply chain rate, but we need the assurance that this will not lead to undue cost pressures.
“We are concerned that the industry will not be able to make the necessary changes to avoid tax in just two years, when many of these changes are beyond the control of the industry.”