Addressing the HGV skills gap
The Freight Transportation Association has announced that government funding to train up to 200 HGV drivers is being made available to FTA members through a new partnership with The Real Apprenticeship Company (TRAC). In a statement issued on Tuesday (24 January), the FTA said: “A total fund of £1m has been secured by TRAC and, depending on the training programmes selected by employers, this amount would be sufficient to fund up to 200 drivers through driving licence acquisition training. It is being offered to FTA members and covers the full cost of approved training to include Category C and potentially C+E driving licence acquisition.”
Applications for funding must be submitted before the end of March and trainees enrolled by mid-April.
While this training programme is a step in the right direction, there is a long way to go. The shortage of HGV drivers is acute: according to the FTA, the industry estimates that there could be up to 35,000 vacancies for trained operators across the country. And the problem will worsen as more drivers retire.
