A major campaign is being launched to recruit and retain a skilled workforce in the logistics sector.
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The campaign is one part of the government’s Future of Freight plan, setting a strategy for the government and industry to work more closely together to deliver a world-class, seamless flow of freight across the UK’s roads, railways, seas, skies and canals.
The Generation Logistics campaign, led by Logistics UK, the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport in the UK, and backed by £345,000 government funding, includes an online hub full of resources, learning materials and job openings to make it easier for people to kickstart their career in the industry, as well as TV and radio adverts which will help to attract candidates.
This follows the government’s 33 actions taken to tackle the heavy goods vehicle (HGV) driver shortage and protect the supply chain. This included increasing the number of driving test slots, investing in new roadside facilities and introducing bootcamps, which has seen the number of available HGV drivers stabilise.
It comes as part of wider government efforts to help more people into work, since this is the best way to support families in the long-term while growing the economy to address the cost of living.
The strategy includes £7 million investment to boost the uptake of innovative new technology, helping decarbonise and digitalise the sector. Funding could go towards initiatives like trialling hydrogen cranes to support decarbonisation or even testing low carbon fuels across the industry.
These technologies will support a more cost-efficient, reliable, resilient and sustainable freight sector. The investment will support wider economic growth by ensuring businesses can operate efficiently, getting the goods they need on time and at a reasonable cost while safeguarding their jobs.
The government’s unprecedented action to help the sector tackle the global shortage of drivers has included making 11,000 HGV driver training places available through Skills Bootcamps, injecting a major and sustained boost to the number of HGV driver tests available, and investing £52.5 million in improvements in roadside facilities and lorry parking.
Since then the sector has started to recover and industry bodies are reporting positively on the number of HGV drivers stabilising.
New HGV drivers are taking and passing their driving test in record numbers. Between March 2022 and May 2022, the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) carried out 29,384 HGV tests – 54% more than the corresponding period in 2019 before the pandemic.
With 1.6 billion tonnes worth of goods transported in and around Britain each year and more than 2 million workers currently employed by the wider logistics sector, the government recognises the freight industry’s vital contribution to the country’s economy and continues to take unprecedented action to support this crucial sector. ■