LOGISTICALLY we couldn’t do without them.

They spend their days trucking up and down our roads and motorway networks transporting goods and parcels from one place to another.

Food, clothing and other everyday essentials we rely on are delivered up and down to destinations throughout the year, but with one of the busiest times on the calendar fast approaching the dependence on delivery drivers is crucial.

Yet, research by the Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC) indicates that one in five companies looking to take on drivers and distribution workers is expecting shortages.

REC chief executive, Kevin Green, says: “Recruiters are telling us that drivers are particularly hard to find. People are put off entering the sector by the high costs of things like training and insurance, with the new Certificate of Professional Competence requirements compounding the difficulties.

“With peak time for deliveries coming up in November and December, shortages are an immediate problem and one that will only get worse in the longer term.

“There are almost as many qualified drivers aged over 60 as there are under 30. We need to see more employers offering driver training and accreditation. The Government could help by providing some pump-priming funds.

“The UK’s workforce is lean, with minimal spare capacity and growing shortages of workers with the skills to fill the jobs that are currently available. As employers compete more intensely in the jobs market for the skills they need to grow, there will be upward pressure on salaries in the months ahead.”

The survey also showed that nine out of 10 firms plan to increase their permanent staff in the next three months, while almost half will take on more temporary workers.

Richard Clayton, managing director of Peckover Transport which was founded in Bradford in 1980 and hauls all over the UK and is also international, says since last year they expanded their fleet from 23 to 37 vehicles and have been recruiting for a few months.

“We need more drivers so we found it hard to fill the quotas. We need the positions because we have expanded quite considerably but, on the back of that, this driver CPC has meant a lot of older drivers have left the industry because they couldn’t be bothered going back to school.”

Richard explains the situation is worsened for firms like his rather than the average firm who just want the odd driver here and there.

“We are struggling but that is because we have expanded considerably. If we only wanted one or two we could get them, but expanding considerably our customers are expanding, there is a bit of a shortage of drivers but all it will do is drive up the wages because people will have to pay more to recruit them from other companies.”

Richard says the biggest issue for him regarding the CPC is that drivers don’t have to take a test. “They just have to attend,” says Richard.

“If they had to pass a test and we knew they were getting trained we’d be more for it.”

Simon Harper, Director of Operations TNT UK & Ireland which has depots locally in Bradford and Leeds as well as other parts of the country, says it completed an extensive driver recruitment programme in 2014 which successfully saw the on-boarding on more than 100 Category C&E Drivers which, he says, was predominantly timed to coincide with the completion of the driver CPC qualification and to prepare them for the Christmas peak and planned business growth.

“However, there are signs in the market that emergency / unplanned cover is becoming subject to shortages, driving up supply price significantly and increasing the risks for transport operators of not being able to fill all requirements or affecting profitability for others.”

A spokesman for the Road Haulage Association says: “We are very concerned about the shortage. We have been hearing a lot in the news about shoppers having empty shelves at Christmas, but as far as we are concerned it is going to go on long after Christmas unless something is done.

“We need Government funding to put drivers through their HGV licences so they can legally drive a vehicle.”

She says the industry has an ageing workforce. “CPC has deterred a few people and they have said they will come out of the industry and those who are retiring are not being replaced.”

Some, she says, will leave for medical reasons or because they have jobs elsewhere. “But we are calling on the Government to do something about it.”