A driver shortage across the UK has meant a bumpy ride for the road haulage industry, as it scrambles to promote fresh recruitment initiatives. David Craik investigates. This article is from Communicate magazine's print issue.

Whether it was queuing up at a petrol station or looking for that last tin of custard on the supermarket shelves, 2022 was not exactly a year of plenty. UK supply chains, cranking back into gear post-pandemic and dealing with the new reality of Brexit as well as Ukraine, were struggling to deliver basic goods. Even when supplies were ready to be shipped, it was often hard to find the lorry (HGV) drivers needed to move them. At the time, The Road Haulage Association said there was a shortage of 100,000 drivers due to an ageing workforce, lack of diversity and a reliance on overseas labour.

Two years on, that shortage – and those supply squeezes – have eased, with latest estimates putting the HGV driver shortfall at around 60,000. But the number is still too high given continued supply chain vulnerability and, as such, driver recruitment campaigns have been turbo-charged.

Generation Logistics, a government-backed ‘awareness and recruitment’ scheme, launched in May 2022 by the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport (CILT) and Logistics UK, for example, works with a range of logistics companies — or sponsors — such as DHL and Wincanton to find the next generation of talent. These are not just drivers but also other roles, such as telematics, finance and sales. "In year one, this was a communications campaign aimed at increasing awareness of the sector," says Bethany Windsor, director of stakeholder engagement and relationship management at the CILT. "Our initial target audience was anybody not working in the logistics sector: young people, parents returning to work and career switchers. We wanted to promote logistics as a profession of choice."

Its campaigns include ‘Logistics Stories’ on its central hub website and case studies on TikTok featuring young employees from its sponsors, describing their career path and day to day roles. "It’s real people with real passion," says Windsor. "We can’t create content in a vacuum and when we get it from the sponsors we spread it across PR, social media and paid activity. We also do quite a lot with financial influencers talking about the salaries available in the sector and Vox Pops taking to the street and asking the public: what is logistics?

"We’ve focused on fun content because traditionally logistics has been quite a dry subject. So, that includes highlighting how much beer is drunk at British festivals and how logistics helps it get there."

It also has the GenNxt GameHub – aimed at 13-to-16-year-olds – which includes HGV driving games, as well as explaining the logistical challenges of moving dragons to Hogwarts in Harry Potter. “We are fighting other sectors who need tech and digital skills such as innovation and big data,” Windsor said.

In this vein, DHL has developed its own partnership with esports group ESL Gaming, which includes creating a dedicated careers page website for players of the video game Dota 2. “It targeted jobs and internships in IT, warehousing, and courier and driver roles,” said DHL spokesperson Joanna Kruszewski. “We have found this partnership to be a great way to reach the young and tech-savvy esports community. By activating the DHL brand around tournaments, we've received over 10,000 job applications since 2022.”

 “We can’t create content in a vacuum and when we get it from the sponsors we spread it across PR, social media and paid activity"

To date, Generation Logistics has had 1.2 billion visits to its website and 5.7 million engagements with potential recruits on social. It hasn’t tracked what this increased awareness has meant in terms of recruitment, but Windsor says this is something they are keen for their sponsors to do in the next 12 months. In addition, it has created a dedicated careers booklet for use in schools and colleges, and organises virtual or face-to-face talks with students. “There are so many myths to bust. It is not just getting the four bad lads who will never go to university to come to a logistics talk. It is for everybody,” Windsor says.

Pall-Ex, the palletised freight distribution freight network, has taken this a step further working with students at De Montfort University in Leicester to help deliver ideas for influencer marketing and social media advertising campaigns to attract more drivers. Winning ideas have included a campaign called ‘Whatever the Weather’, which looked to utilise Olympic gold medallist Jessica Ennis-Hill as a strong female role model to inspire young women to train as HGV drivers. “We wanted to find out how they would market logistics to the younger generation,” says Pall-Ex head of marketing, Abby Langley.

“We do a lot with young people now, such as school and college visits, to put a shine on the profession. We also have a ‘Warehouse to Wheels’ scheme where forklift drivers can train to be HGV drivers.”

Tackling driver shortages will be a bigger focus for Generation Logistics this year, including looking at under-represented groups, such as women. “We’ve gone deeper in our communications strategy, looking at specific demographics. If you are a lady looking at our campaign you will be thinking ‘that could be me’. We’ve got lots of video shorts and case studies about how the role can be fitted in around childcare responsibilities,” Windsor says. 

Fine art logistics group Gander & White Shipping is looking to hire military veterans through a partnership with charity Help for Heroes. The recruitment campaign – launched in June – will see Gander & White donate £1,000 for every veteran who joins over the next 12 months.

“Post-pandemic, we were left with a massive dearth of fine art technicians who do our installations and warehouse handling, so we looked at what veterans can offer,” explaines Alexander Bradford, global business development and sustainability manager. “We have a rich military history, being founded by RAF Officer Frank White in 1933 and, because we are dealing with high-value cultural objects, we need people who are security conscious.”

It is using a variety of communication channels, such as physical and social media, advertising and engaging veterans’ networks. As part of its communications, the company has overhauled its recruitment protocol and language. “We used language that we felt would better resonate with this audience and started to talk about our high standards of service and how we have to work under pressure,” Bradford explains. “We have had no new people come through to date, but it is very early days.”

"Tackling driver shortages will be a bigger focus for Generation Logistics this year, including looking at under-represented groups, such as women"

Truck manufacturer DAF has also looked to military veterans to help tackle a shortage of mechanics. “We’ve started going to military recruitment fairs and are having some success in bringing people in,” says Ian Grant, aftersales director. “They have transferrable skills.”

DAF also runs a campaign called ‘Made for DAF’ which aims to attract car and van mechanics to the sector. “We have been using a series of short video clips and promotional material on social media to target existing workers and young people,” Grant explains. 

The campaign includes DAF dealers visiting schools with a truck allowing pupils to climb on board. “They aren’t greasy and dirty anymore, these are hi-tech bits of kit with complex software and systems,” he says. “We also push that we are moving to electric power now and hydrogen. The next ten years will see a huge step-change in vehicles on the road.”

That could mean, of course, more use of AI, semi-automated and even fully automated trucks. The industry believes this will free-up driver time to concentrate on more skilled tasks rather than see them being replaced. Mick Skerrett of recruitment group Manpower says: “We’re seeing the onset of technology like self-coupling [connecting the tractor to the trailer] to prevent drivers getting out in all weathers. Drivers developing more digital skills and getting introduced to new technology is needed as part of their training.”

Enhancing and reaffirming existing skills is also important for DAF Trucks through DAF Heroes - an online employee knowledge and skills competition. “We share it on our communications platform TechShare,” Grant says. “It is fun, but it is also about making technicians feel acknowledged helping retention. Over 80% of our 1,700 technicians have been in role for over five years.”

But more can be done, Grant says. “Transport is seen as a lower grade career. But look around any room you are in, and everything has come in off the back of a truck. If technicians put their tools down, it wouldn’t be long until the wheels of industry stopped turning.”