The government has been urged to "pull its finger out" to prevent a potentially crippling lack of lorry drivers on our roads.

Hauliers are warning shelves could be left empty due to a combination of increased demand, the implications of Brexit, poor pay and huge delays at HGV test centres.

Peter Kohn from the A-Class HGV Driving School

According to the Road Haulage Association (RHA), prior to the pandemic the industry was facing a shortage of more than 60,000 drivers. It says that has now exceeded 100,000 and that "critical supply chains are now failing".

The situation was recently highlighted in Tonbridge when recycling collections had to be suspended for two weeks due to a lack of drivers.

Peter Kohn runs the A-Class HGV Driving School in Gillingham. He says the problem has been exacerbated by the closing during lockdown of HGV test centres - and the selling off of many sites in recent years.

Kent, he explains, now has just one site to serve the entire county - in Gillingham - after the Canterbury site was shut down.

And that is in huge demand from HGV schools in the London suburbs too due to restrictions introduced on older HGVs - used by many driving schools - inside the M25.

He explains: "There's always been a shortage, but the pandemic and Brexit has seen it come to light.

"When the pandemic came, they closed down the HGV test centres for 37 weeks. They felt is was unfair for examiners to meet four people a day in a lorry. Yet the poor girl working at Tesco on the check-out will meet 2,000 people and she had to work.

"Closing those sites down for so long and selling others off has had a huge impact. The government has to be accountable for what it has done. It has to pull its finger out.

"There are lots of people who want to learn, but not enough test centres. We're all fighting to get driving tests but while we're doing that, we're not getting pupils through."

He says Gillingham's test site currently offers 100 tests a week - but there are 42 schools trying to book the places, which is contributing to a huge backlog.

The situation is being replicated throughout the country, with neighbouring counties also having just one test site and not sufficient capacity to fill the increasing number of vacancies.

In addition, many lorry drivers from Eastern Europe can no longer work due to Brexit rules - a situation which has only added fuel to the crisis.

Mr Kohn adds many are also put off the industry - essential for the supply and distribution of goods - due to the poor rates of pay. But that any increase would come at a cost.

He explains: "A lot of drivers look at £150 a shift and think that's not bad. But it depends on what company you work for. You could be working 15 hours a day, so £10 an hour suddenly is not very exciting. But if the hauliers have to pay more then they have to charge more and the price of goods in the shop will go up.

"But nothing will survive without lorry drivers."

The RHA has recently written to Prime Minister Boris Johnson to help solve the crisis.

It is calling for access to EU and European Economic Area (EEA) labour by adding HGV drivers to the Home Office's 'shortage occupation list' and for a taskforce to be immediately set-up to tackle the issues the industry faces.

At a recent meeting between the RHA's chief executive, Richard Burnett and Roads Minister, Baroness Vere, he told her: “The need for action is clear and urgent. We and many others have provided overwhelming evidence that the shortage is getting worse – the situation must be addressed right now."

The government has giving a commitment to continue to look at actions that can be taken to address the issues raised by industry.

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