Written evidence from the Road Haulage Association (RHS0016)

  1. The Road Haulage Association welcomes the committee’s inquiry into what action government has taken to address industry concerns about a lack of skilled drivers in the road haulage sector, and to assess how effective the government's response has been. It will help to highlight:

-          the reliance of the UK economy on this essential service industry;

-          the size and diversity of the industry and the range of employment opportunities within it;

-          actions by government that are urgently needed to ensure the industry is able to maintain its services, including funding support for firms to train new drivers and improving the security and facilities at motorway service areas.

 

  1. To quote the UK Commission for Employment and Skills, logistics is “a critically important enabler of the success of other businesses of all sizes and sectors”.  It is therefore disappointing that workforce skills in the sector appear to have been given so little attention by government hitherto.

 

  1. We particularly focus here on the driver shortage, which the RHA flagged up to government as its key issue 15 months ago and which has driven much of what we have done since.

 

  1. Long-predicted problem comes to a head: The RHA has asked the government to help firms to fund the cost of getting UK residents licensed to drive in the industry for some years. Repeatedly rebuffed, we raised the idea of a student-style loan during the road haulage forum meeting in December 2013. The more we looked at this option in detail, the less attractive it seemed. Much preferable, for a range of reasons including the failure rate at test of almost 50%, was the option of encouraging companies with a need for drivers to select well and invest with government support.

 

  1. Critical to the RHA’s strong lobbying of the past 15 months was a meeting at Portcullis House in June 2014 of 22 of the RHA’s larger members, hosted by Rob Flello MP. The members resolved strongly that George Osborne must be alerted that:

-          the industry, upon which the economy depends, was short of drivers and that the problem would get worse without government support;

-          the industry would continue to train insufficient UK residents and that the shortage would worsen, despite continuing to bring in large numbers of foreign drivers;

-          it was both appropriate and essential for the government to assist companies, as a matter of urgency, to meet the substantial cost of getting UK residents licensed and qualified to drive.

 

  1. RHA research with members confirmed the extent of the problem, with 70% of members short of drivers and a further 20% expecting to be soon. Only 11% felt they had no problem.

 

  1. The RHA estimates that the UK needs almost 600,000 large goods vehicle (LGV) licence holders for the industry to function efficiently and we estimated last autumn that the industry was short of 45,000 drivers and rising. This figure reflects the structure of the truck driving population, the needs of an industry that frequently operates 24/7 for 365 days a year; and takes account of the complexities of operational need and the level of cover required to ensure consistent levels of customer service.

 

  1. We said that, at a conservative estimate, 30,000 foreign truck drivers were working in UK domestic road haulage – a figure that, based on feedback from members, we now put at between 50,000 and 60,000. This means that the training sector in the UK is smaller than it would be and HM Treasury loses heavily, both directly and through remittances sent home by these skilled workers. Immigration minister James Brokenshire recently criticised firms for becoming too reliant on foreign workers. The RHA and its members agree – we are too reliant on foreign drivers for comfort. But the UK government has done nothing to support haulage firms seeking to train UK residents.

 

  1. The UK needs to be training around 35,000 new drivers each year to make up for natural retirement and people leaving early for medical reasons or because they preferred other jobs, within or outside the industry. And yet the UK saw around 17,000 only gaining their LGV licence in 2013 (increased by 15% in 2014), consistent with many years of under-investment in training. The average age of drivers is worryingly high.

 

  1. The UK had “got away with” this lack of investment due to a number of factors including: growing use of Eastern Europeans following the UK’s decision to allow workers from the new EU accession states to work here immediately; the downturn in demand which followed the economic downturn of 2008; and the ending of the default retirement age of 65 in 2011. It is worth noting also that the UK’s share of international transport has declined from well above 50% to less than 20%.

 

  1. The developing driver shortage should have been one of which government was aware, and not only from the RHA. The shortage predicted by the BIS-funded sector skills agency, Skills for Logistics.  In 2012, it stated that as the economy started to recover there was likely to be a driver shortage and that a key factor was the absence of “public funding or finance support for driver licence acquisition”. (A Looming driver shortage? The evidence behind the concerns, page iv: http://www.skillsforlogistics.org/media/20345/driver-shortage-april-12-final.pdf ) In October 2014, the UKCES noted that “it is critical that the shortage of drivers is addressed…(Understanding skills and performance challenges in the logistics sector: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/360931/14.10.02._SLMI_Logistics_Evidence_Report.pdf)

 

  1. Dealing with HM Treasury: Against this background, the RHA went to HM Treasury in early autumn 2014 setting out the urgent case for a straight-forward, focused and time-limited, system of funding support. We highlighted the high cost of gaining a licence and the risk for individuals and companies, which range from the small and medium-sized, which dominate the industry, to larger firms. We also stressed the influx of workers from abroad – and we have growing concern about the quality of some foreign drivers.

 

  1. We stressed there was an opportunity for government to lead a quality-assured revival of skills training in what is an essential industry, to increase Treasury revenues and to strengthen the long-term resilience of UK road haulage and we explained why. We asked for a positive announcement in the Autumn Statement 2014. The RHA received strong support from across the industry for both our request for funding and the analysis of the issue that went with it. (In a ComRes poll in January 2015 in which 83 MPs participated, 53% supported our call for funding for driver training, 22% strongly. The poll was undertaken by the RHA and Roadtransport Media.)

 

  1. We urged the Chancellor to meet the RHA with a delegation of half a dozen members, drawn from large logistics companies, so that he could hear directly from our members why government funding was both necessary and appropriate. Given the government’s stated enthusiasm for hearing from business leaders, we were optimistic of a positive response. Instead, regrettably, when we finally heard from the chancellor there was a clear rejection of a ministerial meeting.

 

  1. Dealing with the Business Department: BIS has, in our view, comprehensively failed to understand the realities of the haulage driver training issue hitherto. We understand that there is a firm block on funding licence acquisition but that the policy is being reviewed in the light of representations, not least from the RHA, and in consideration of responses to BIS’ consultation on the proposed all-sector apprenticeship levy. We consider it imperative that BIS abandon its objection to funding training for licence acquisition, which is damaging the haulage industry and UK growth.

 

  1. The RHA’s proposal for a time-limited funding scheme was made in anticipation of an LGV driving apprenticeship from 2017. The haulage industry can contribute strongly to the government’s target of three million new apprenticeships in the parliament – but only if its drivers can be included. We are hoping for a positive outcome in the revised LGV driver apprenticeship submission.

 

  1. Dealing with the Department for Transport: We have found that, traditionally, DfT has been concerned mostly with matters such as: road haulage related regulation, compliance and enforcement; CO2 reduction; the functioning of its motoring agencies; and infrastructure. Not skills and certainly not workforce planning and bringing new entrants into the industry. The RHA has felt a more positive engagement with DfT over the driver shortage and potential for funding in the past year or so than it has experienced with BIS and HM Treasury. Both officials and ministers have taken a keen interest.

 

  1. Engaging with the Department for Work and Pensions: The RHA and DWP signed a partnership agreement in November 2013. The main fruit of that has been “Driving Britain Forward”, a project proposed to Jobcentre Plus to provide work experience to JCP customers with the aim of getting them into truck driving or other jobs in the industry, filling vacancies promoting the industry.

 

  1. The concept was trialled successfully in the Southampton area and we are now working nationally. A key feature was to select those with a genuine interest in the industry and potential to become a truck driver. A benefit of the work already is that JCP local staff have a much better understanding of the opportunities available in the sector.

 

  1. It has been abundantly clear that demand for involvement in Driving Britain’s Future would soar were funding available for driver training. The Welsh government has indicated that, encouraged by this project, it will fund licence acquisition through articulated lorry licence for a substantial number of JCP customers (unemployed and claiming benefit). At the time of writing we await details.

 

  1. RHA activity related to the driver shortage: We are keen to stress that our request for funding went alongside a commitment to work to improve the driver shortage situation in other ways. We recognise that while the industry has a great story to tell, it has been poor at doing so. We have set out to promote public awareness of the industry and its opportunities; to support members in recruiting; and to address issues to do with driver facilities. The Jobcentre Plus initiative is part of that as are a range of other activities, including National Lorry Week, October 26-31, during which RHA members around the country will be promoting the industry to the public.

 

  1. The RHA is seeking to attract more female drivers into the industry and more young people. There is a lack of understanding in the industry that one can legally drive a 44-tonne truck from age 18 and an exaggerated sense of the barriers to insuring drivers under 25, let alone 21. We have members with many 18-year-old truck drivers, performing well. We exploring the idea of a mentoring scheme for under-21s, whereby the employer would retain title to the licence up to age 21.

 

  1. The committee has highlighted several specific questions:

 

  1. As above, there are no government statistics as to the shortage of drivers. The RHA calculated a shortage of 45,000 and others have, independently, arrived at similar of higher figures since then.

 

  1. Government statistics regarding the number of truck drivers in the UK can be very misleading. A commonly-quoted government figure is that there are 273,000 LGV drivers. This compares with the RHA’s estimate of almost 600,000. The 273,000 figure is derived from the ONS Annual Population Survey 2012, which aims to achieve a broad-brush portrait of the UK and its methodology skews the results for truck drivers dramatically by failing to take account of a number of sector-specific factors.

 

  1. A more useful government figure is that of DVSA’s in relation to Driver CPC cards. In September 2014, DVSA stated that 664,000 lorry, bus and coach drivers had completed their first five-year block of training. Of these, the large majority will be truck drivers, although the figures are not segregated. The number excludes those truck drivers who are non-compliant, those from abroad who have taken their and most of those (around 80,000) who will have come into the industry since the five-year DCPC block started in 2009.

 

  1. DfT registration figures show 469,000 trucks in the UK that require an LGV licence, of which 344,000 are covered by operator licences. (The difference is made up of factors including exempt vehicles and unsold trucks in the used vehicle market.) Many of these vehicles, such a milk collection, supermarket delivery and fire trucks, require multiple drivers.

 

  1. There was much discussion a year ago as to the impact of the Driver CPC. Our view is there will have been some impact but that the impact can easily be over-stated, not least those seeking a ready tool with which to attack the European Commission for broader political motives. Surveying a range of members with more than 1,500 drivers, we were told that, despite some opposition to doing the training, they had not lost a single driver as a result of it.  One larger member said that its agency had suggested that it had lost perhaps 5% of its drivers and it is likely to have affected drivers on the margin, or driving 7.5 tonne trucks on a car licence. We suggest that perhaps 5,000 drivers were lost and some of those have come back, having now completed their DCPC training requirement.

 

 

  1. HM Treasury and BIS in particular have, hitherto, been deaf to the argument for funding.  Central government has rejected requests for financial assistance from the sector towards the high cost of training drivers. It has offered little or no assistance or support to the industry to encourage recruitment.

 

  1. We are aware of a patchwork of isolated grants that been made available by local government, or broader retraining schemes following large-scale redundancies.

 

  1. The DfT has, as a consequence of austerity measures, made it more difficult to come into the industry through a combination of factors. The process of gaining a licence has become more complicated. There is a clear tension between DVLA and the medical profession, which finds the forms to be filled in, to quote one GP, “a nightmare” and “much more complicated than they need to be”. Members have complained of difficulties in getting appointments for HGV medicals, although some specialist companies now offer a service. The reduction in LGV testing facilities, as DfT seeks to reduce its estate, has added to difficulties and DVSA is now seeking new sites suitable for testing, the use of which it can hire from the private sector.

 

  1. DVSA reports an increase in demand for testing, after many years of slow decline, and this is clearly stretching its resources. Waiting times for tests in some areas have stretched to ten weeks. DVSA has cancelled the training of delegated testers (ie individuals from large fleets, mostly in the private sector) this year so that it can focus on those who can test full time. The RHA supports that, given the assurance that all other avenues have been explored.

 

  1. We are unaware of any work by government to improve understanding and awareness of opportunities in the industry in schools or any other educational establishment.

 

  1. We are unaware of any work by government to encourage diversity in the industry. The RHA has had initial discussions on the subject with some large users of transport, however.
  1. The Driver CPC has been the most controversial piece of EU regulation to impact on the industry in recent years. Continuous professional development (CPD) for drivers was not a concept with which the industry in the UK was familiar, it was not asked for in the UK and, initially at least, it was not widely welcomed here.
  2. It was introduced in order to improve the status of drivers and to drive up standards. In terms of status, the impact has been modest. Individual companies have undoubtedly gained from greater engagement with drivers and by delivering high-quality courses, where they have done so, but it is hard to see a measurable benefit to the industry as a whole.
  3. We have seen a significant shift in attitude among our members. It should be remembered that the requirement to train was introduced in 2009, at the height of the recessionary impact. Latterly, we saw a shift among members from fire-fighting to more stable planning. Some fierce critics of DCPC came latterly to state that it had benefited their drivers and their businesses through increased professionalism.
  4. The RHA has found that attitudes to DCPC often come from the top of a company. Where an employer is taking the requirement seriously, the drivers do also. Where they are doing the bare minimum, or leaving that to the drivers, the opposite is the case.

 

  1. The RHA is a significant provider of training services in its own right. RHA Training has delivered more than 800 week-long “train the trainer” courses and delivered a range of training courses, some tailored to the needs of individual companies. Feedback from drivers and employers indicate that, overwhelmingly, these are well received.

 

  1. The RHA’s view of the DCPC is that it is evolving. We support the concept of CPD for drivers and buyers of transport should look for evidence of a commitment to regular DCPC training as an indication of a good haulage supplier. However, the directive needs to be reformed to allow greater flexibility and e-learning. The DVSA has allowed greater flexibility in UK application and that should go further. There is a basic concern, in that there is a greater practical ability for a larger fleet to tailor courses to suit its operational needs than there is at a small haulier, due to the economy of scale.

 

  1. DCPC should not be seen as the only route to improving the professionalism and safe driving of truck drivers. Company culture, the monitoring and management of drivers through the use of telematics, and the use of forward-facing recording cameras, which is now very widespread, are all making a contribution.

 

  1. These comments all relate to the UK. In terms of drivers from abroad, we have little detail as to the quality of DCPC courses or the rigour of compliance enforcement; and it is to be noted that a number of countries do not complete their first mandatory training period for another 18 months. Of greater concern to us in terms of road safety is compliance with other haulage regulations.

 

  1. Other skills: The RHA is keen to promote higher skills and professional development for managers and owners in the transport industry, covering the range of skills that makes a haulage operation not only compliant with the many regulations covering the industry but also customer-focused, safe, sustainable, efficient and profitable. 

 

 

  1. The haulage industry often feels that it is under a barrage of excessive criticism and restriction, with little by the way of counter-balance to recognise the vital work that it does. That climate contributes to the industry having a poor image. Proposals to ban collections and deliveries in cities during the day, which the industry regards as completely unrealistic, are unhelpful in terms of attracting people into the industry.
  1. Poor facilities at some motorway service areas (MSAs) and at the premises of some of the industry’s customers and receivers of goods are an obstacle to the recruitment and retention of truck drivers. It is not a new issue but we see an imperative – and opportunity – to raise standards.
  2. Parking on the motorway network with adequate facilities for drivers, and security for the driver and his or her load, must be viewed as no less important than the roads. It cannot be acceptable that we have MSAs with no security and a worrying rise in crime against drivers and their loads. We believe that we have made progress with DfT ministers and Highways England on this issue.
  3. Facilities at distribution centres and other places where trucks load and deliver is a related but separate issue. The RHA is challenging users of transport services, including large retailers and quarry operators, to review the manner in which they treat the visiting truck drivers on which their businesses depend. Some companies are very good; others are very poor and they need to improve their facilities and attitude to visiting drivers. Where there are issues concerning certain drivers, those need to be addressed head-on. We note the good work of Gillian Kemp and her Truckers’ Toilets UK campaign and her practical support for these objectives.

Jack Semple

Director of Policy

October 2015