'Appalling' treatment of lorry drivers leading to fears of serious shortage

Lorries on the A19 (Image: Evening Gazette)

Warning there could be up to 100,000 too few lorry drivers within a decade as young people turn their back on the roads

Poor facilities and "appalling" treatment of lorry drivers is leading to a serious shortage of young people looking to do the job, it has been claimed.

The warning came as the boss of a Teesside shipping giant revealed there could be a gap of up to 100,000 drivers within the next decade.

Jerry Hopkinson, chief operating officer of PD Ports, was sharing his worries over the lack of young lorry drivers coming through and the impacts on business at the latest Tees Valley Combined Authority (TVCA) cabinet meeting.

His concerns came as TVCA leaders discussed the £20m and £25m grants offered to Middlesbroughand Darlington railway stations - as well as wider levels of investment offered to transport infrastructure on Teesside.

Jerry Hopkinson of PD Ports

Mr Hopkinson honed in on rail freight and told members he was speaking on the back of a study commissioned by his firm.

He added: "The view is that over the next five years, and certainly within the next 10 years, there will be a shortage of lorry drivers to the tune of 76,000 to 100,000 drivers.

"The average age of lorry drivers in the UK at the moment is 57-years-old. The percentage of people aged under 25 coming into the haulage industry as lorry drivers is less than 5% of the total population of drivers.

"We see as a business a major constraint to the growth and development of our port business as a result of the logistic capacity to get freight moved to and from Teesport if this is not addressed."

Mr Hopkinson told the panel this was one of the reason why PD Ports have been developing new freight strategies and "expanding the rail network infrastructure".

"It's a really material problem," he added.

A freight train

When it comes to rail freight, the TVCA has commissioned a £1m study alongside Network Rail into improving the line between Eaglescliffe and Northallerton in a bid to allow rail freight through where low bridges and tunnels restrict what can be carried through.

Most freight trains have to travel via Darlington at the moment to get to and from Teesside.

James Bower, communications manager from the United Road Transport Union (URTU), said the shortage of young lorry drivers had been a "serious problem" for years.

Mr Bower said: "The way the industry is means it's just not an appealing to people wanting to start a career.

"It involves being away from home for a long time and the way lorry drivers are treated is appalling.

"Roadside facilities are terrible and drivers are treated like robots to get from stop to stop - so it's just not appealing to young people as a possibility."

Mr Bower said he'd heard many stories of drivers going to depots and not being allowed to use toilets.

He added the union had tried to lobby the government on driver conditions and industry shortages "for a long time".

"It's going to get to a stage where I don't know what's going to happen and there is not going to be enough drivers to do the work," said Mr Bower.

"In most industries when you have a shortage of workers, the salaries go up due to supply and demand.

"But drivers still don't get paid adequately for the work they do for being away from home and the terrible facilities they have to put up with."

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