The RHA has calculated that the £150m funding needed to address the driver shortage would actually make money for the government.
One way to raise this amount, says the RHA, is for the government to redirect some of the UK fuel duty it receives for a limited time.
“We are asking the government to invest £150 million – equal to 2.6% of the total of fuel duty paid by HGV in a single year – into getting UK residents licensed and qualified to drive in the industry,” says RHA chief executive Richard Burnett (pictured).
“This funding would be self-financing for HM Treasury,” adds Burnett. What’s more, he adds, “the extra investment in UK skills would reduce the industry’s reliance on drivers from abroad, which the RHA estimates leads to approximately £180 million in remittances sent back to those countries that would otherwise be spent in the UK”.
At 57.95p per litre, UK-registered hauliers pay the highest levels of diesel duty in the EU. In Luxembourg, for example, duty is less than half that figure, at around 23p per litre.
“The chancellor has the power to kick-start a swift and effective reversal in the decline of the UK skills base in this essential service industry,” says Burnett.
“These figures demonstrate that government support for the industry on which the entire economy relies not only makes sense for growth – it can be self-funding and will boost Treasury coffers.”