DRIVER APPRENTICES NEEDED TO KEEP UK MOVING

A Northumberland haulage firm is calling upon the transport industry to help deliver a greater number of driver apprenticeships.

Managing director of Moody Logistics and Storage, Caroline Moody, has urged other haulage firms to help promote driver apprenticeships as an effective means of addressing the national shortage of qualified LGV drivers, reports the News Post Leader.

The Cramlington-based firm has 24 drivers, four of which under the age of 30, who have either been through or are in the process of completing a driver apprenticeship. 

Caroline said: “The fact of the matter is that the average trucker in the UK is in their early 50s and as they retire or leave the industry they are not being replaced in sufficient numbers as too few young people are even considering it as a career.”

She added that creating more driver apprentices is a cost-effective way of encouraging more people into a career behind the wheel.

She said that there is a national shortage of LGV drivers, which has been estimated at around 50,000, which will have a serious impact on the UK economy and its ability to maintain the supply chain.

“The huge effort made by the logistics sector to keep this country running during the current pandemic highlights the vital role it plays,” said Caroline, who was recently named winner of the Freight Leader category in the 2020 Amazon everywoman in Transport & Logistics Awards.

Moody Logistics and Storage has already successfully put three apprentices through the driver programme operated by Tyneside Training Services (TTS).

The fourth, who was selected from 150 applicants, started his ‘Warehouse to Wheels’ apprenticeship in February in the warehouse, working with the team there to gain a wider insight into the logistics business while working towards his full driver qualifications.

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