It’s National Lorry Week next week – an initiative set up by the Road Haulage Association (RHA) to recognise the work of our logistics business in the UK. A chance to celebrate the value of a lorry driver and to encourage more people to join the industry.
According to the Commission for Employment and Skills (UKCES), the sector faces skills shortfalls and recruitment difficulties, with over 1.2m extra jobs required by 2022.
So, just how important is the work of the HGV industry?
- 85% of goods moved in the UK are transported by HGVs.
- If lorries can’t get through, the supply chain stops.
- Goods moved by trucks on a daily basis include building materials, chemicals, food, drinks, and manufacturing components.
- Logistics contributes over £96bn annually to the UK economy.
- UK logistics sector employs 2.3 million people.
- In 2015, number of HGV drivers employed stood at 299,000. (Labour Work Force Survey)
- Drivers (HGV, van and forklift trucks) and warehouse operatives form 49% of workforce.
- There are 5.7 million truck drivers worldwide.
- There are 473,000 HGVs (over 3.5 tonnes gross vehicle weight) in Britain.
- A fully loaded truck weighs 44,000 kg on average – that’s the equivalent of 383 rugby players.
- In 2015, the amount of goods moved by HGV increased by 11% to 150 billion tonne kilometres.
- HGVs in the UK shifted 1.63 billion tonnes of goods last year – that’s the equivalent of 9.5 million adult blue whales.
- Every year, the haulage industry delivers: 16,000 swimming pools of milk and enough beer to fill Wembley Stadium
We’re recruiting for a highly skilled Class 1 (Wagon and drag) HIAB operator with ALLMI ticket and plenty of confidence and experience lifting cabins, containers, fencing, poles, pillars, generators, hot tubs, portable toilets etc If this sounds like something you’d be interested in – email a copy of your CV outlining your experience to hr@sussextransport.com or call our HR department on 01903 791217 for a chat
