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Exclusive: Chronic HGV driver shortage to persist as successful tests plummet

Government Accelerates HGV Driver Training To Ease Haulier Shortage
Some 16,000 people passed their HGV vocational driving test this year, down from the annual average of 42,000 in the previous five years (Photo by Leon Neal/Getty Images)

The chronic shortage of HGV drivers plaguing the UK economy will not end anytime soon, according to exclusive data obtained by City PM.

Some 16,000 people passed their HGV vocational driving test this year, down from the annual average of 42,000 in the previous five years.

The depressed levels of people passing their HGV test means there is a 26,000 deficit of lorry drivers on British roads this year.

The fresh figures come as data published last week showed more than half of HGV testing centres around the UK have a waiting time of nearly three months.

Extended delays to testing and low levels of people passing have been blamed on the pandemic scuppering the normal functioning of HGV testing centres. Just 109 people passed their HGV test in April 2020, the first full month of lockdown.

Sarah Olney, transport spokesperson for the Liberal Democrats, who crunched the numbers, said: “It was clear early on in the pandemic that the country would face a chronic shortage of HGV drivers, after the number of tests being taken plummeted.”

A paucity of lorry drivers has caused the British logistics to break down, leaving businesses struggling to get their hands on essential materials used to deliver goods and services.

Endemic worker shortages, alongside soaring raw material, shipping and energy costs are combining to produce a toxic mix for British companies, which is restricting production and threatening to derail the economic recovery from the Covid-19 crisis.

Companies have started passing on swelling costs to consumers to protect margins, whilst output is being choked, fuelling fears the UK economy is headed for a period of “stagflation”.

The smaller pool of HGV drivers has led to petrol not being distributed across the UK, despite fuel supplies being plentiful. Reports of low petrol stock has sparked panic buying, leading to petrol stations closing after their fuel supplies were ransacked.

“Ministers must take responsibility and address the huge backlog in HGV driver tests which is grinding the country to a halt,” Olney added.