A LOCAL haulage contractor is blaming the national shortage of HGV drivers on red tape which he claims is forcing truckers out of the profession.

Mathew Parry, a director of Crymych-based Frenni Transport, claims the introduction of the Certificate of Professional Competence has sparked widespread disillusionment.

“All HGV drivers must have a CPC which is gained by sitting in a class room for seven hours every year,” he told the Tivy-Side.

“There is no test, just a seminar, with no pass or fail.

“The traffic commissioner who represents the road haulage says it’s not fit for purpose, the Road Haulage Association say its rubbish and companies reckon it’s a drain on finances.

“The drivers’ view is that the CPC teaches them nothing.

“When it was introduced in 2008 many close to retirement decided not to sit the CPC, taking them out of the industry forever.

“As one of 600,000 haulage companies in the UK, we relied on ad-hoc help.

“We had a guy called Graham who did about 10 runs a year for us, covering a holiday here and there.

“Every company had a Graham and sometimes while helping out they would decide they wanted this job as a career.

“All our Grahams have decided not to sit in a class room for seven hours for the odd day’s work so 600,000 companies x 10 Grahams lost is six million days that the industry has to fill.

“We are now having to pay more and that means drivers are jumping jobs to fill the lost runs.

“That is why tanker drivers are chasing the new money, leaving our forecourts dry,

“Don’t let the bureaucrats tell you this industry needs to have some kind of training refresher as it’s killing our ability to draw in fresh, new drivers to our already fragile industry.

“Companies are responsible for the real training - and it’s NOT in the classroom.”

A spokesman for the Road Haulage Association said Brexit was also ‘a significant contributor’ to the current driver shortage.

“Many EU drivers left the UK in the years after the referendum for all kinds of reasons including the falling pound, doubts about settled status, etc,” he said

“Our driver shortage is 100,000 – pre-pandemic is was around 60,000.

“There’ve been 40,000 HGV test cancelled due to Covid, a Brexit exodus of 15,000-20,000 post-transition and IR35 tax rules changes.

“We’re pressing the Government for Driver CPC reform. It’s hugely unpopular, costly and many see the (classroom-based) training as meaningless.”

“Poor pay and poor working conditions are other factors.”