ONGOING LORRY driver shortages have hit the UK’s milk supply, with industry leaders warning of a food shortage crisis this summer.

Milk processor Arla has reported disruptions to its daily milk deliveries and is calling on the Government to accelerate the programme of driving tests for new Heavy Goods Vehicle (HGV) drivers and to temporarily issue visas for the road haulage industry to encourage European drivers to fill the gaps. In the meantime, logistics companies have taken immediate measures to try and fill shortages by offering financial incentives to attract new drivers.

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Arla’s boss Ash Amirahmadi said that the processor had been experiencing driver shortages since the beginning of April, impeding its ability to transport milk from factories to supermarkets.

“This has now increased to such a level that we are not able to deliver milk to every store that we would like to,” he said, adding that normally Arla delivers to 2400 stores daily, but hasn't been able to reach around 10% of those.“At the weekend it is worse – last Saturday (July 24) there were 600 stores we couldn't deliver to.”

He called for a long-term structural solution to the driver shortage issue but stressed that action also needs to be taken quickly to avoid food shortages this summer: “We would like to work with the Government first of all to recognise it is a crisis and secondly to address the backlog of tests for HGV drivers,” he urged, adding that there are about 30,000 drivers awaiting their driving test.

 

The Road Haulage Association has estimated there is currently a shortage of 100,000 HGV drivers across the UK, prompting logistics companies and supermarkets to offer financial incentives to attract new drivers. Arla has committed to increasing driver pay, as well as offering a £2000 signing-on bonus. M and S’s logistics partner, Gist, is also offering a £2000 sign-on bonus and will cover the costs of training new-starts. Supermarket groups Asda and Tesco have taken similar measures, offering £1000 signing-on fees.

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Although driver shortages are mostly affecting deliveries further up the supply chain, there have been some knock on effects on dairy farmers.

NFU Scotland’s milk policy manager Stuart Martin, explained: “We have heard no reports so far of dairy farmers in Scotland failing to have milk collected although, for some, collection times have sometimes changed at short notice to accommodate driver availability. We will continue to monitor the situation at farm level.

“It remains a very challenging situation and we welcome the efforts of milk processors to prioritise ex-farm haulage at a time when haulage issues further up the dairy supply chain are in the headlines and supplies to shop shelves disrupted," continued Mr Martin, who also manages the Scottish Dairy Hub. "We fully support the lobbying efforts of Dairy UK who are pressing Government for action to address the shortfall in HGV drivers through clearing the HGV testing backlog; increasing visa availability for HGV drivers and exemption from Covid-19 isolation requirements for drivers who have been vaccinated,” he concluded.