Retailers face fulfilment headache as lorry driver shortage deepens

A director from Wincanton, one of the UK’s largest logistics companies, warned that as well as taking longer to arrive at customers’ homes, delivery costs could rise as businesses fight for qualified drivers, causing an increase in wages.

The warning comes just days after Argos launched a same-day home delivery service for £3.95 per order in a bid to rival Amazon Prime Now in the fulfilment battleground.

The retailer’s Fast Track service offers four delivery windows throughout the day. Any customer who orders online as late as 6pm will receive their order by 10pm.

Argos said it had hired 3,300 new drivers and leased 800 vans to deliver the service.

Call for action

But Wincanton, which has around 5,500 drivers of large goods vehicles, is calling for action from the industry and the Government to tackle a depleting number of qualified drivers before it hits shoppers in the pocket.

Figures from the Freight Transport Association suggest that the UK needs an extra 60,000 LGV drivers, but only 20,000 are entering the profession each year. There are currently around 326,000 qualified LGV drivers working in the UK.

Wincanton HR director Julie Welch told The Telegraph:  “It won’t be a case of turkeys not being on supermarket shelves for Christmas, because the large companies can put more resources into the problem.

“It will be smaller deliveries, such as those that end up in consumers’ homes, that will become much more delayed. Companies like Amazon could be affected.

“The big food retailers that do home deliveries could raise minimum spending levels to make them more cost-effective as they seek efficiencies.”

Tesco changes

Supermarket giant Tesco has already increased its minimum spend for deliveries on online orders from £25 to £40 as retailers continue to assess the costs of fulfilment.

Following the changes in July, any order placed with Tesco under the new £40 limit is now subject to a £4 surcharge in addition to the standard delivery charge, which ranges from £1 to £6.

Welch believes costs could increase further if the problems are not tackled, with the age profile of existing drivers proving one of the major issues. More than half are over the age of 50 and facing retirement, according to the Road Haulage Association. Less than 5% of LGV drivers are under the age of 25.

High costs associated with becoming qualified to drive larger vehicles are also proving a barrier to enter the industry. Obtaining the required license can cost up to £5,000.

Wincanton is joining forces with industry bodies to lobby the Government to increase funding to support apprenticeships and training programmes for LGV drivers.