Chancellor sums up FTA driver shortage summit

George Osborne's pre election Budget announcement has revealed a review of driving tests and medical assessments for HGV drivers, which is good news for the Freight Transport Association (FTA).

Osborne's statement offered a review of the speed with which HGV driving tests and driver medical assessments currently take place, looking to speed the process up to address the shortage of HGV drivers.

Last weeks FTA Industry Summit saw test bookings from the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) and medical assessments from the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) as its key topics, with a Solving the Driver Crisis summit focusing on tackling the issue of recruiting and retaining professional drivers.

James Hookham, Managing Director of Policy and Communications at the FTA, said: “FTA members will be pleased and impressed that two issues raised at our Driver Crisis Summit have been so swiftly addressed. Speeding up driving test bookings for truck drivers and medical assessments will help us get qualified drivers on the road quicker and more reliably helping industry address its shortfall of 60,000 drivers. We look forward to seeing this implemented as soon as possible."

ONS Labour Market Statistics revealed that 1,345 HGV drivers were claiming Jobseekers Allowance in February, compared to the 3,100 claiming the allowance a year ago. This marked a 56.6 per cent drop.

Hookham said of the statistic: "Although this may appear on the face of it to be good news, the reduction in the number of professional drivers seeking work is compounding the current driver shortage between 50,000 and 60,000 HGV drivers and means that companies will have to work harder to find drivers, driving up pay as a result".

The FTA has also welcomed the news that government will freeze fuel duty, but remains disappointed that a 3 pence reduction in fuel duty to boost the economy was not confirmed.