As it happened: Lorry driver shortage made worse by pandemic - Shapps - BBC News
Transport Secretary Grant Shapps says there's a bottleneck because HGV driver tests were not available during the pandemic.
'Lorry driving is a fun job but I'm having second thoughts'

We've been reporting on a lorry driver shortage in the UK which has been exacerbated by coronavirus. John Buckland gave up teaching to become an HGV driver in 2015 and says although he finds it "a fun job", he's now having second thoughts "Long distance means I have to have nights out," he told BBC Radio 4's The World at One. "So at the moment I'm spending four to five nights out a week and I just want to be home. The wages are also really pretty poor as well." He says offering higher salaries will not be enough to get people into the job. "They're going to say alright you're going to get £50,000 but you're never going to see home, you're going to be out at weekends, sleeping in the cab you're going to have to park in lay-bys. I don't think that's going to be very attractive to very many people at all," he says. Kieran Smith from specialist HGV training agency, Driver Require, says: "We estimate 230,000 licence holders are not driving at the moment," he says. "Of those, 50,000 left in the last six months, so some of those should be able to be attracted back and that's probably the most easy short-term fix."