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The road transport industry says new UK government proposals to tackle the driver shortage crisis will not provide any immediate relief.
The Department for Transport (DfT) yesterday sent a letter from secretary of state Grant Shapps to the logistics industry, outlining new measures to tackle the driver shortage crisis, which the Road Haulage Association claims has now reached 100,000.
The new measures largely focus on increasing the numbers of new HGV licences issued by the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) from around 1,500 passes a week to 2,000.
It also promises greater support for driver training schemes through greater funding via apprenticeships, while the Department for Work and Pensions has also created a pilot HGV driver training scheme to attract jobseekers.
However, it explicitly ruled out the prospect of issuing temporary visas to non-UK drivers. Read more
Source: THE LOADSTAR
