The RHA says the driver shortage – estimated at 45,000 – is affecting the UK supply chain and threatens to slow the country's economic recovery.
The situation will only worsen, it says, as more than 35,000 drivers are due to retire in the next two years.
"We are now facing an unprecedented and critical shortage of qualified truck drivers – currently estimated to be in the order of 45,000 across the country," says Richard Burnett (pictured), RHA chief executive.
"Current retirement levels and low levels of new entrants to the industry are creating a perfect storm," he adds.
Burnett says the typical cost to train a driver is £3,000.
"This is a serious barrier to individuals wishing to train up. Margins in the small and medium-sized haulage companies that make up the bulk of our industry are very tight, and this limits their capacity to fund the required training," he says.
"To keep the economic recovery on track, the government needs to act, and act fast. We are urging the prime minister and chancellor to invest £150m in driver training in the July budget."