Can the haulage industry escape from the clutches of the truck and HGV driver shortages in 2022, as the impact of Covid fades? Carol Millett investigates.
THE COVID 19 pandemic has cut a swathe through the supply of both HGV drivers and new and used trucks, delivering a double whammy to the sector which threatens to hamper the industry’s recovery as the economy starts to rebound.
Truck production levels fell victim to the pandemic in early 2020 as global lockdowns forced OEMs and component manufacturers to close their plants and soaring demand for computer games and laptops from locked down consumers hit the supply of semiconductors.
According to research by automotive sector analysis firm IHS Markit, in Q3 and Q4 2021 there was a shortfall of up to 40,000 trucks above 6 tonnes gross vehicle weight in Europe, thanks to successive plant closures.
