Drivers of heavy goods vehicles [HGVs] are set to benefit from £20 million of funding for improvements to roadside facilities.
The investment announced in April 2022 comes as part of the government’s wider efforts to improve driver welfare and address the global HGV driver shortage, which is affecting the UK’s haulage industry.
The funding will come from National Highways’ £169 million Users and Communities Fund, and will be targeted toward improved security, better shower and catering facilities and more parking spaces for HGV drivers.
The new raft of funding means that ministers have invested a total £52.5 million into bettering driver facilities since last year. Chancellor Rishi Sunak had previously set aside £32.5 million in the Budget to level-up roadside facilities across the country, bolstering the action that government and industry have taken to address longstanding recruitment issues in the sector.
Baroness Vere, parliamentary under-secretary of state for transport, commented: “HGV drivers play a key role in keeping our nation running and contributing to the economy, and it is vital they feel safe and comfortable wherever they stop.
“That’s why we’re allocating £20 million to ramp up security and improve amenities for drivers – building on the raft of measures we’ve already taken to support the industry.
“We’ll continue to work closely with the sector to boost professional driver numbers even further.”
Nick Harris, chief executive of National Highways, was optimistic that the investment would help toward improving working standards for drivers.
He said: “We want all road users to reach their destination safely and encourage everyone, from those who drive as a profession through to people traveling on holiday or for leisure purposes, to plan ahead before setting off and to take regular breaks.
“We are dedicated to improving the experience of everyone using our roads and remain committed to working closely with operators of roadside facilities to help improve the standard of parking and other amenities they provide on motorways and major A-roads. We are hopeful that the £20 million being announced today will go some way towards achieving this goal.”
Logistics UK’s head of policy engagement, Mags Simpson, hailed the funding as a “positive step forward for the industry” and urged roadside service operators to apply for funding immediately.
Simpson added: “Logistics UK members have previously cited the lack of available lorry parking and suitable roadside facilities as one of the main barriers to recruitment and as a result, an increase in funding for this vital sector of the economy is much welcomed news. Lorry drivers are required by law to take regular rest periods, including overnight mandated rest breaks.
“It is vital that these key workers, who are charged with keeping the nation stocked with all its required goods, have a safe place to take these breaks, where they are also able to make use of much needed bathroom and catering facilities.”
With the cumulative action taken by the government and industry, the DVLA has processed in excess of 240,000 vocational licence applications in the previous six months [as of April 13, 2022]. In December 2021, 14,210 such licences were issued, a 150 per cent increase on the quantity issued in December 2019.
Elsewhere, the DVSA carried out an unprecedented 27,144 HGV driving tests between October and December 2021, compared to the same period in 2019 when 17,685 HGV tests were conducted.
Photo by Jack Blueberry on Unsplash
