Brexit blame for HGV driver shortage exposed as false

HGV drivers group finds 5,300 EU residents in UK have re-entered Britain’s HGV workforce

Montage © Facts4EU.Org 2021

HGV drivers who are EU nationals has risen, according to haulage group

As Christmas approaches, a timely and detailed study of UK Government data produced by haulage industry think tank Driver Require has revealed the good news that not only is the recent shortage of HGV drivers easing off – but we can conclude that the blaming of Brexit by politicians and media commentators as the chief cause of the crisis was wildly misplaced.

The latest latest bulletin by industry insiders the Driver Require group’s followed its study of the ONS Quarterly Labour Force survey for the 3rd Quarter of 2021 released on 15th November. The ONS survey showed a welcome 12% rise in HGV drivers totalling 28,000 – up from 233,000 in Q2 to 261,000 in Q3.

Not only that, but the extra 28,000 certificated drivers represents a 40% recovery of the 70,000 drivers that were lost in Q2 during the pandemic.

EU drivers in Brexit Britain have risen by 22% in the last quarter

Within the latest ONS data is a very interesting figure – over 5,300 EU Nationals resident in the UK have re-entered Britain’s HGV workforce – suggesting that like so many UK nationals they had left the pool of delivery drivers due to poor pay and conditions, not because they had been forced to ‘return home’ or were denied certification.

Driver Require has consistently argued that the prime reason for the decline in HGV drivers is the poor pay and working conditions of drivers in the UK, exacerbated by the pandemic lockdowns closing drivers’ facilities. They have also highlighted the restriction on HGV tests – as reported by Facts4EU.Org - that would replace driver retirals, as well as the inability of existing HGV drivers to obtain medical certificates to renew their licences.

Extract from Driver Require review of Labour Force Survey Q1 2020 (pre-Covid); Q2 2021 & Q3 2021.

UK HGV drivers (EU Nationals)

Q1 2020: 37,000
Q2 2021: 24,350
Q3 2021: 29,704

The figures provided by Driver Require show that following the Covid pandemic response the UK HGV workforce had by Q2 2021 fallen by 68,550 – of which 12,650 were EU Nationals. Since then the ONS Q3 shortfall against pre-Covid estimates has reduced to 40,370 with EU nationals contributing 5,354 drivers.

Driver Require argues the UK is not out of the woods yet, that a great deal more needs to be done to improve both recruitment and retention of drivers by improving pay and working conditions, not least parking, showering and overnight facilities, which remain poor. The next set of ONS survey figures, to be released in January 2022, will show if the progress is being maintained.

All figures quoted from Driver Require Bulletin copyright of Driver Require and ONS.

Observations

Anyone who monitors either mainstream or social media cannot possibly avoid the regularity of blame being placed on Brexit for anything that goes wrong in the UK. We at Facts4EU.org know that this is no coincidence. It is part of a strategy to return the UK to EU membership within the period of the next two general elections. Most recently the blame for the (relatively brief) shortages in our supermarkets and petrol forecourts was put firmly on the UK leaving the EU, allegedly causing EU nationals to return homewards to the continent due to complicated paperwork, customs procedures and a lack of work visas. While the fuel shortage was entirely illusory (there were abundant supplies and the driver shortage did not affect those specialist drivers that drive fuel tankers) some EU nationals may well have decided not to continue making their journeys into and around the UK – but the evidence tells us the causes were many and leaving the EU was insignificant compared to the effects of our country’s response to the Covid pandemic.

The emerging narrative is that of a British HGV labour force enduring suppressed pay rates in part due to high levels of EU nationals being attracted by relatively beneficial currency values. This distortion in poorer domestic financial reward when coupled with archaic facilities and conditions was already causing employers significant recruitment and retention problems. Then came Covid and with it a series of lockdowns that saw drivers locked out of toilets of the supermarkets they were delivering to; existing drivers unable to have medical check-ups required to renew their HGV licences; many HGV tests being cancelled and applications not being processed by civil servants working from home. It was an easy target for misrepresentation and so it was turned into a cause célèbre by the Brexit blamers. Well, no more. The evidence refutes the lie.

As we come out of the lockdowns and restrictions so the obstacles to certification and recruitment are being overcome; market forces are now able to respond and improved pay scales are attracting people back to HGV employment. As Driver Require states, we are not out of the woods yet, but the reality is that some of the problems of the haulage industry were caused by our EU membership (eg UK drivers being priced out of the market by cheaper EU nationals) with the symptoms only becoming visible because of Covid happening just after we left the EU. Now we are responsible for our own rules it is for the UK Government to improve the infrastructure and for employers to treat our HGV drivers as Kings of the Road.

Facts4EU.Org needs you today

We are a 'not for profit' team (we make a loss) and any donation goes towards the actual work, not plush London offices, lunch or taxi expenses, or other luxuries of some organisations.

We badly need more of our thousands of readers to donate. Could this be you, today? Maybe you've been thinking about it, but just haven't got around to doing it? If so, let us reassure you. It's quick and easy and we use two highly secure payment providers. And we do NOT ask you for further donations if you donate once - we just hope that you keep supporting us. Your donation stays anonymous unless you tell us otherwise.

Please don't assume that other people will keep us going - we don't receive enough to survive and we need your help today. Could you help us?

Most of our readers are well-informed and appreciate our fact-based articles, presented in a way you won't see anywhere else. If you value reports like the one above, please help our work with a donation. We have far more to do in researching, publishing, campaigning and lobbying Parliament than we have in terms of the financial resources to fulfil these tasks. We badly need funding to continue - we rely 100% on public donations from readers like you.

If you believe in a fully-free, independent, and sovereign United Kingdom, please make a donation now. It’s quick, secure, and confidential, and you can use one of the links below or you can use our Donations page here. You will receive a personal, friendly ‘thank you’ from a member of our team within 24 hours. Thank you for reading this.

[ Sources: Driver Require | ONS ] Politicians and journalists can contact us for details, as ever.

Brexit Facts4EU.Org, Fri 10 Dec 2021

Click here to go to our news headlines

Please scroll down to COMMENT on the above article.
And don't forget to actually post your message after you have previewed it!

Something to say about this? Scroll down for reader comments

Since before the EU Referendum, Brexit Facts4EU.Org
has been the most prolific researcher and publisher of Brexit facts in the world.

Supported by MPs, MEPs, & other groups, our work has impact.

We think facts matter. Please donate today, so that we can continue to ensure a clean Brexit is finally delivered.

Any credit card user

Quick One-off

From £5 - £1,000

Monthly

From £3 per month

Paypal Users Only - Choose amount first

Quick One-off

Monthly

PLEASE NOTE IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO COMMENT : You can write your comment under any existing comments below. After you have clicked to preview your comment, you MUST then click on the CAPTCHA system and send you comment, for it to be published. Thank you!

Reader Comments 7

1. Fred Dawson , Friday, December 10, 2021, 09:57:

The UK must invest in the whole gambit concerning HGV infrastructure. Lorry Parks with accommodation/ablutions, restaurants, entertainment. Lower priced fuel, solely for the industry at these Lorry Parks too. And finally, good competitive wages...it was the Haulage industry and its drivers that kept the UK going during this awful Covid pandemic.

2. One eyed king , Friday, December 10, 2021, 14:12:

Infrastructure is a must, let's see an end to the lucozade fairy phenomenon

3. Susan , Friday, December 10, 2021, 18:42:

Most things that are blamed on Brexit were not actually caused by it.

4. jon livesey , Friday, December 10, 2021, 19:11:

A sub-text here is that it is so simple to get a job in the UK. You just approach an employer, and if they like you, you get a job, with none of the elaborate procedures that are common elsewhere. In fact a lot of things in the UK are pretty simple and informal once you are in the country. That's why we only find out who has a job as a HGV driver after the fact.
And guess what, Macron took time this morning took time to educate a grateful World that the migrant crisis is due to this. That the UK is attractive to migrants because it is so easy to find work once you are in the country. He even invited the UK to join France in fixing this "problem" by making it more difficult for migrants to find work, which if you think about it could only be done by imposing EU style regulations and formalities instead of leaving it to employers to deal with job applicants directly. In other words, making it more formal, regulated and difficult for migrants to find work would do the same for everyone, and of course make the UK more European.
Macron is always trying to be helpful, isn't he?

5. Spectrator , Saturday, December 11, 2021, 10:43:

What all of you fail to see is the inevitable rise in prices. This would be OK if we were all rich but most of you are probably not nearly rich enough to afford the price increases that will follow.
3. Name one.
5. I doubt you know many migrants to qualify you to even make that assertion. I do & many say it's difficult to find work as a migrant, unless it's a job that no one else wants. This is common knowledge but I realise how that may be a challenge for you.

6. jon livesey , Saturday, December 11, 2021, 18:55:

5. Spectrator:
3, The petrol shortage hoax.
5. You are arguing with Macron.

7. Terry B , Saturday, December 11, 2021, 20:08:

Brexit isn't responsible for the shortage of HGV drivers in the EU, is it? But don't expect europhiles or the EU to point out it's an EU issue as well.

Add comment:

Please note: Your email address is never published unless you choose to enter it.