Norfolk family firm selling lorries due to driver shortage

Helena Wright is part of family firm W's Transport, based in north Norfolk

A family-run haulage company in the East of England is selling two of its lorries because of a driver shortage.

W's Transport of Wood Norton, East Dereham, Norfolk, has been operating since 1985 and has a fleet of six lorries.

Transport manager Helena Wright said the firm advertised for a driver two months ago and has not received a single application.

The government said it was boosting the number of HGV driver tests.

The Department for Transport said it was boosting the number of HGV driving tests

Ms Wright said: "This year we have lost two drivers to work/life balance. Basically they want to be at home to spend time with their families which isn't something we can accommodate.

"So we have decided to sell two of our trucks.

"One reason is when you have an advert running for a driver and you don't get anyone, you have to make that conscious decision [to sell] because there are costs involved in having these two trucks looking at you."

She added: "We have got to sell vehicles to be able to be cost effective as a business."

There is now a shortage of more than 100,000 drivers in the UK, out of a pre-pandemic total of about 60,000, a Road Haulage Association survey of its members estimates.

Some said the shortage was due to lorry drivers from mainland Europe no longer being able to work in the UK due to Brexit, but Ms Wright said it was not that simple.

"Yes, Brexit, has played a part. But I do believe Covid has played a part as people have returned home [to mainland Europe] and haven't come back to this country since then," she said.

"I don't think the job is as attractive as it used to be. It is a very lonely job as it is. Time pressure in this job is absolutely phenomenal. You can order something at 21:00 BST tonight and you can have it delivered on your door step tomorrow and behind that is logistics.

Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said action was being taken to help solve the shortage of HGV drivers

"So you have to provide drivers who can drive through the night, who don't just do Monday to Friday. They have got to work weekends to ensure the goods are delivered for when the consumer wants them.

"The government are suggesting that we should be able to pay drivers more money and offer better conditions.

"But unfortunately that is beyond most companies and our company's control because it reflects the rate we are paid for jobs, and I know within at least the last decade there have been no increases in rates in our industry."

Grant Shapps, Transport Secretary and Welwyn Hatfield MP, said: "We've already provided a 50% increase in [HGV driver] testing compared to pre-Covid."

He added the tests would be shortened and a new cross-government ministerial group was being set up to monitor "labour supply chains" to see what other action may be needed.

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