According to the most recent Labour Force Survey, 36,000 more people were employed as HGV drivers in Q4 2024 when compared to Q4 2023.
The change has been attributed to initiatives around training, pay and recruitment brought in to address shortages that emerged after Brexit.
Such shortages can pose real issues for the food and drink sector given its reliance on daily deliveries and complex supply chains.
Of the 36,000 additional drivers, 30,000 come from the UK, while wages increased by 3.8% to an average of more than £41,000 per year.
However, HGV driver vacancies increased by 33.9% during Q4, reflecting continued demand for trained workers in the field.
Meanwhile, demographic issues remain prevalent, with close to 49% of drivers over the age of 50.
Bethany Windsor, head of skills policy at Logistics UK, commented: “Today’s figures are encouraging news for our sector, indicating as they do an uptick in employment prospects for drivers and other logistics workers.
“But perennial challenges for our sector, like an ageing workforce and limited new entrants to the profession, persist. As a profession, we still need to do more to attract the next generation of talent, while retaining those who have already chosen to join the logistics workforce.”
Despite the number of vacancies rising, the number of HGV tests taken in the year to November 2024 dropped by more than 20%.
Windsor though believes that attitudes towards the logistics sector are beginning to change.
“The work conducted by the Generation Logistics campaign is starting to change the perceptions of our sector for the better among 13-24 year olds,” she added.
“In its first two years, Generation Logistics’ focused campaign has improved the way young people think about careers in logistics by 212% and raised awareness of our profession as a whole by 37%. The campaign’s dedicated website has recorded more than 1.37 million hits, while its social media messages have been interacted with over 6.9 million times.”
“These are obviously impressive numbers for a campaign only two years into its life, but we need to remember that, until two years ago, negligible numbers of people outside logistics had any idea what the sector is all about.
“Behavioural change takes time and focus, and it is up to all of us to keep the Generation Logistics message growing, despite the threat of future economic pressures, to ensure that our sector is able to draw on the skilled workforce it needs in future years.”
