Trains could be the answer to HGV crisis
Even before the gas crisis a shortage of lorry drivers was creating food shortages in some areas. But could trains take the strain of deliveries, asks
THE big question about delivery today is, could trains solve the problem of long haul deliveries of goods and materials? With the trauma of Brexit behind us and Covid in retreat our daily headlines are now being dominated by a new concern – a shortage of HGV (Heavy Goods Vehicle) drivers. This problem increases national inflation and more importantly threatens future growth of the national economy. Yet the shortfall in HGV drivers may have created the first opportunity in decades for a railway goods service to be resurrected as being witnessed at Teesport.
Four railway freight operators are now using the Northern Gateway Container service from Teesport, allowing twenty five movements by rail every week to carry goods and materials to Elderslie, West Scotland before terminating at Doncaster. This rail distribution commenced in 2014 and has already removed 15,000 long haul road deliveries from roads of the North every year. The scheme is so successful there are plans to extend the service by 50% and all this from just one English port.
With the major UK industries of manufacturing, construction and even food and drink (supermarkets and farming) now suffering from delays in supply, it seems to me the alternative to road has to be rail. With tens of thousands of HGV drivers returning to their country of origin following Brexit and the “lockdowns” of the pandemic, this merely added to those drivers leaving the UK haulage industry in droves. It was even suggested that poor wages or long hours were the problem although ever increasing traffic flows making collection and delivery times impossible to keep, exacerbated the problem.
The estimated shortfall of 500,000 long haul drivers equates to 3700 additional hauliers needed in every county of England, which blows my mind. As a mere motorist having to consider an extra 3700 lorries (often articulated) on our already inadequate, potholed roads in Devon alone brings major concern. Yet how did this situation arise, why do we have this huge dilemma? The fact that so many foreign drivers went home was soon exacerbated when our Prime Minister asked everyone to avoid using public transport after the pandemic took hold. His request (it was not law) saw hundreds of thousands of added vehicle owners out daily, while in addition sales of motorhomes, new-cars, delivery vans and caravans went up almost by magic. Meanwhile, bus services, coaches, the use of the underground and railways and air travel was largely abandoned, causing many businesses to close. Now the PM wishes to reverse his request and yet in spite of additional expenditure and added travel costs, this will not occur quite so easily.
In the haulage industry poor wages and the lack of on-site training fails to convince me that was the problem. In the food and drink industry supermarkets like Waitrose, Tesco, Iceland and Marks and Spencers report salaries of up to £53,000 being offerred to drivers. The RHA (Road Haulage Association) who I worked with when Chairman of the Federation of Small Businesses (we partnered a Cooperation Agreement) recently issued a press statement calling on Government to extend its formal “Shortage Occupation List” so that more overseas drivers can be classed as “Essential Workers”. New regulations might allow more UK visas and thus achieve easier access to our roads, yet sadly, this would do nothing for road safety of congested roads.
A shortage of HGV drivers will not be resolved before our Festive Season which means shortages will be a problem. Builders throughout the UK are already experiencing delays in supply, while on shop shelves we already see food, drink shortages highly visible. Some independents are praying the end of “furlough” on September 30th will help the situation, although in my view this is unlikely.
Reclassing “Essential Occupations” merely to bend “safety rules” is risky and as one headline stated recently – “Let the train take the strain”. The Government is already examining the idea. Its paper “Streamlining the HGV licence process” should attract more applicants and achieve more long haul drivers onto what we know are our inadequate and often very poor roads. Finally, the Office for National statistics confirm “lack of HGV drivers is hitting supply chains”, and the Chancellor is having to adjust Treasury forecasts as economic output fails to reach expectations. Its time for a radical rethink and the goods-trains of my youth could be the solution.
Ian L Handford is a former Chairman of the Federation of Small Businesses and current Chairman of Torbay Civic Society