Logistics chief orders faster training of truck drivers to ease shortage

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Its director general, Tony Duncker, attacked the government for its “self-defeating” refusal to resort to temporary measures and called for an urgent review of the list of occupations in short supply.

Dunker said: “Using the levers that are under UK control – such as putting drivers, welders, butchers and masons on a list of occupations in short supply – can make a real difference. The government has promised an immigration system that focuses on the skills we need rather than unrestricted access. To labor abroad. However, here we have clear, short-term skilled needs but a system that does not seem to respond.”

Separately, Marks and Spencer held an emergency summit of 40 of its largest suppliers on Friday amid concerns that post-Brexit paperwork due to be required at the border from October will make matters worse, the Mail on Sunday newspaper reported. Retail chief Archie Norman has called on politicians to take action to reduce the bureaucratic burden before empty shelves become more common.

Read on for James Wroath’s comment on the state of the transportation industry

We should bring in foreign drivers to help the Christmas rush

It was an exceptional time to work in the UK’s logistics sector. The Covid-19 pandemic has accelerated already changing consumer behaviors and tested the resilience and adaptability of all businesses.

Meanwhile, the UK’s withdrawal from the European Union has brought about regulatory changes and challenges to day-to-day operations, not least in terms of hiring people. Treating any of these issues in isolation has been difficult, but mixing the two has put severe strains on supply chains.

I am proud of the way it has responded as an industry: Thousands of thousands of dedicated and hardworking people have continued to work hard at production sites and warehouses, and drivers across the country, in the cogs of the economy. Indeed, the crisis has brought to light a sharper focus on the value of supply chains and those who work within them, with the government identifying our employees as key workers alongside those working in the NHS and other front line services.

However, we are now faced with the fact that trade flows have changed, perhaps forever – and as a country we have to keep up with changes in ways of working. When we emerge from the pandemic and the economy reboots itself, the availability of labor does not keep pace with the demands of doing business in the “new normal.” The next big challenge we face in our economy is a challenge for humans.

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