// UK government holds emergency meeting with retailers, logistics groups and wholesalers about lorry driver shortages
// The shortage of drivers threatens to leave gaps on supermarket shelves
// Tesco said the driver shortages were creating 48 tonnes of food waste each week
The UK government has held an emergency meeting with retailers, logistics groups and wholesalers following a shortage of lorry drivers which poses a threat to grocers.
Officials from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) have discussed potential solutions, including relaxing restrictions on drivers’ working hours and increasing capacity for HGV driving tests and training to help bring in new local drivers.
The shortage of drivers threatens to leave gaps on supermarket shelves following a loss of up to 100,000 lorry drivers due to the Covid-19 pandemic and Brexit.
Defra is considering putting drivers on the official shortage occupation list to help make it easier to bring in workers from overseas.
Retail representatives on this week’s call with Defra expressed concern that the reports of potential shortages in stores would lead to panic buying and a return of the stockpiling behaviour.
Tesco has said the driver shortages were creating 48 tonnes of food waste each week, the equivalent of two truckloads.
Click here to sign up to Retail Gazette‘s free daily email newsletter
